Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones certainly hopes that Dak Prescott can play on Sunday night. If not, however, he seems to have a lot of faith in backup QB Cooper Rush.
Prescott suffered a calf injury on the game-winning touchdown throw to CeeDee Lamb during the team’s overtime win over the New England Patriots back in Week 6. The team had a bye last week, and hopes to have him ready for Sunday Night Football at the Minnesota Vikings.
So far, nothing has been announced. Prescott said he expects to know whether he’ll go on Saturday afternoon. Head coach Mike McCarthy gave a fairly troubling update today, saying that Dak is “sore” after going through yesterday’s practice.
Dallas may be in better playoff position right now than any other team in the NFL, at 5-1 with the entire rest of the NFC East at 2-5. They can afford to be pretty conservative with their handling of Prescott’s injury, especially given his recent injury history. And while Jones is hopeful that Dak won’t miss Sunday’s game, he was very complimentary of Rush, who has three NFL passes under his belt, today.
Jerry Jones on @1053thefan on Cowboys backup QB Cooper Rush: “I think he’s just outstanding at executing our offense. He really makes outstanding decisions. He gives us the ability to maximize our supporting cast around him. We have the full playbook with him. That’s a big deal.”
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 29, 2021
We saw how ugly things can get for Dallas without Dak Prescott in the lineup last year, but that team also had significant defensive issues. The whole team has taken a big step forward in 2021, and Rush would have a ton of weapons to utilize, even if he is just tasked with managing the game and leaning on the Ezekiel Elliott/Tony Pollard-led rushing attack.
“You go through the locker room and everybody has a ton of faith in Cooper,” McCarthy said this week. “He established that over his time here. Very, very consistent in everything that he does so you know exactly what you’re getting. So he’ll be ready to go if we hand him the ball.”
Rush last attempted a pass back in 2017. He was 1-for-3 for two yards that season, and carried the ball twice for 13 yards. He’s been with the Cowboys for his entire NFL career, after serving as a four-year starter and earning All-MAC honors at Central Michigan.
Dallas and Minnesota kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday Night Football.
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