The harsh reality of how quickly a season can change on an injury is omnipresent during the NFL preseason, and you can forgive Cowboys fans for panicking after seeing star offensive lineman and All-Pro guard Zack Martin limp off from the Cowboys' Week 2 preseason game. 

Good news for those who want to see a stout running game from the Cowboys: Jerry Jones is "optimistic" that any injury Martin may have suffered is minor, per David Helman of DallasCowboys.com. 

Also not concerned? Teammate La'el Collins, who shrugged off the injury in a way that would lead you to believe Martin is going to be perfectly fine.

Martin had Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick dive at his legs while pulling on a toss sweep and stayed on the ground for several minutes.

And Martin was also spotted returning to the field with his teammates after being taken to the locker room with a taped-up ankle following roughly 10 minutes in the medical tent after he suffered the injury. 

One of the things we assume when talking about a team's upside or downside is full health for key players. When we think about the Cowboys running game, we're absolutely banking on all their key players being available on the offensive line and giving Ezekiel Elliott room to run. 

Martin is one of those key players and losing him would create a major trickle-down effect that might cause the Cowboys offensive line and running game to crater. 

Fortunately for the Cowboys, things are looking up for their star offensive lineman after what was certainly a scary injury.