The Dallas Cowboys are giving Aldon Smith a chance to return from rock bottom to the NFL, and the one-time premier pass rusher recounted just how low he sank during his four years out of the league while batting substance abuse issues.

“I would say 2018 was a tough year,” Smith said Thursday night in an interview with Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. “In that year, I was in a really dark place. And I didn’t have a lot of value for how I thought about myself.

“When I was in the bad spot, it got pretty bad. I was sleeping under a car for some nights because my sickness took me there. And I had a home to sleep in. But I was in such a dark place, that I didn’t see myself deserving anything other than that.”

The 30-year-old Smith, who totaled 33.5 sacks in his first two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011-12, signed a non-guaranteed one-year deal worth up to $4 million with Dallas earlier this month. He hasn’t played in the NFL since 2015, when he was suspended indefinitely for violating the league’s substance-abuse and personal conduct policy while a member of the Oakland Raiders following multiple arrests for DUI.

Smith also was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2018 and most recently was busted for DUI in June of last year in Kansas, but Glazer said during the interview that the former Pro Bowler has been sober for the past nine months since they began working together as part of Glazer’s Merging Veterans and Players Foundation.

“At the beginning of it, I was a little hesitant to talk, but the more I felt comfortable with those people, it really just became so therapeutic for me because I was able to get help for things that I was dealing with and I was also able to help by sharing my story,” Smith said. “It’s been a whole lot of soul-searching. It’s been a journey, it’s been filled with ups and downs. During the process, there’s been some self-inflicting wounds, but in the process, I came out with a better understanding of who I am and what I want from my life.

“It gave me a better appreciation for the game that I’ve been blessed to play. I’m just so excited that the Cowboys, the NFL, has given me the chance to come back and finish what I started.”

Smith still has not been officially reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has given second chances to multiple players with troubled pasts, including Rolando McClain, Greg Hardy and Randy Gregory.

Smith added that he met recently with incoming Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy; and former 49ers coach Jim Tomsula also was hired this year to be Dallas’ defensive line coach.

“I believe that with the platform the NFL gives players, and particularly me with the things that I’ve gone through and the things I’ve learned, it will give me a chance to help out others,” Smith said. “So it’s not just deserving a shot to play, but it’s a shot to use that platform so I can help other people. That’s why I’m so grateful for having this opportunity.”