The Dallas Cowboys could be without starting quarterback Dak Prescott for a while. Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones confirmed Friday that the plan is to place the NFL’s highest-paid player, who signed a four-year, $240 million extension in September, on injured reserve.
“Right now, I don’t think anyone knows if it’s going to be four weeks, six weeks or the season,” Stephen Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan, via The Athletic. “We’ll have to continue to monitor it and see where it takes us.”
The earliest he could return is Week 14 for the Dec. 9 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Immediately following the injury, Jerry Jones did not provide a timetable for Prescott, other than confirming that the quarterback would not play in their Week 10 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The three-time Pro Bowler underwent an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of the injury, and according to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, the results indicated a more serious injury than initially feared.
On Wednesday, NFL Media reported that Prescott’s initial diagnosis was a partial hamstring avulsion, meaning it is partially detached from the bone. In many cases, surgery is required to fix the problem, but there are some situations where waiting to let the scar heal, mend, and then strengthen through physical therapy and other methods could work. On Wednesday morning, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said a decision had not yet been made on whether or not to place the quarterback on injured reserve.
The Cowboys were outplayed in their Week 9 game against the Atlanta Falcons, a 27-21 loss. And that was before losing Prescott for most of the fourth quarter to a hamstring injury.
After the game, Prescott provided insight into how his body felt before leaving the competition.
“I felt something pulling,” Prescott said, via The Athletic. “I felt something I had never felt before,” Prescott added, via ESPN. “It will be very difficult for me not to be there.”
Prescott was also seen waving his right hand on the bench, clearly compromised in both his upper and lower body, which is why Dallas concluded their day was over with 11:40 left in the game. He finished with 133 passing yards and a touchdown (a 3-yard touchdown to running back Rico Dowdle) on 18 of 24 passing on Sunday.
Prescott was replaced by backup quarterback Cooper Rush, an eight-year NFL veteran. Rush has won five of his six starts in place of an injured Prescott, including wins in four of his five starts in 2022 when Prescott was out with a thumb injury. Rush threw a 4-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jalen Tolbert in addition to passing for 115 yards while completing 13 of his 25 passes off the bench.
No matter who Dallas’ quarterback was Sunday in Atlanta, beating the Falcons wasn’t in the cards. The Cowboys went 3-for-13 on third down and 1-for-5 on fourth down. Missed tackles and a lack of communication on defense also hamstrung the Cowboys’ efforts to play complementary football on Sunday afternoon.
Rush should be expected to take over under center while Prescott remains out, although the team could also opt to turn to third-string quarterback Trey Lance to see if he’s capable of being Prescott’s future backup.
