The Dallas Cowboys could be without starting quarterback Dak Prescott for a while. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones confirmed Friday 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 whether it will be four weeks, six weeks or the season,” Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, via The Athletic. “We’ll just have to continue to monitor that and see where it takes us.”
Prescott was not placed on injured reserve Saturday, per NFL Media. This means if he is placed on injured reserve now, the earliest Prescott could return is in Week 15 for the Dec. 15 game against the Carolina Panthers. The Cowboys not placing Prescott on injured reserve Saturday also means he could return in less than four games, although it’s unknown how likely that is.
Immediately after the injury, Jerry Jones didn’t provide a timeline for Prescott, other than to confirm the quarterback wouldn’t play in their Week 10 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The three-time Pro Bowler had an MRI on Monday to determine the degree 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 Prescott’s initial diagnosis was a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon, meaning it is partially torn off the bone. In many cases, surgery is required to fix the issue, but there are some situations where waiting to let it scar over, repair and then strengthen through physical therapy and other methods could work. On Wednesday morning, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said the decision about whether or not to place the quarterback on injured reserve had not yet been made.
The Cowboys were overmatched in their Week 9 game against the Atlanta Falcons, a 27-21 defeat. And that was before losing Prescott for the bulk of the fourth quarter due to the hamstring injury.
After the game, Prescott provided some insight into how his body felt before leaving the contest.
“I felt something pull,” Prescott said, via The Athletic. “I felt something I’ve never felt,” Prescott added, via ESPN. “It’ll take a lot for me not to be out there.”
Prescott was also seen shaking his right hand on the sideline, clearly compromised in both his upper and lower body, which why is Dallas concluded his day was done with 11:40 left in the game. He finished with 133 passing yards and a touchdown — a 3-yard scoring strike 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 victories 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 the quarterback was for Dallas on Sunday in Atlanta, beating the Falcons didn’t appear in the cards. The Cowboys went 3 for 13 on third down and 1 of 5 on fourth down. Missed tackles and miscommunication on defense also hamstrung the Cowboys’ efforts to play complementary football Sunday afternoon.
Rush should be expected to take over under center while Prescott remains out, though the team could also elect to turn to third-string quarterback Trey Lance in order to see if he is capable of being Prescott’s future backup.
