For his eighth NFL season, Dak Prescott will be entering uncharted territory: life without Kellen Moore.
Moore was a four-year veteran and the backup quarterback behind Tony Romo when the Cowboys drafted Prescott in 2016. But a fractured fibula suffered in training camp allowed the Mississippi State rookie to leapfrog his way into the starting lineup.
Although Prescott never looked back, Moore has been a constant presence alongside him ever since: two years with him on the roster, then a season as the team’s official quarterbacks coach, then a 2019 promotion to the coordinator of a Prescott-led offense. He kept that job even through the transition from Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy, with the new head coach citing a desire to leave Moore’s working relationship with Prescott untouched.
But the Cowboys parted ways with Moore in January, after another disappointing postseason exit. The Los Angeles Chargers scooped him up within hours.
In Dallas, it’s now a new era for Prescott.
“When you lose a friend, you’re going to be upset, but that’s the nature of this business,” Prescott said, per Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports. “When I say I’m upset he’s gone, it’s not that I’m upset about the future. It’s that when you’re a player, you have the relationship we’ve had, when he was a player. [I] watched his success and watched him grow into the coordinator that he is.
“I’m just as excited about our opportunity as I am for a new start for Kellen.”
That opportunity will see changes to the Cowboys offense. But Prescott believes he won’t be starting over.
“Right now, Mike told me [about] 20 to 30 percent change,” Prescott said last week from Phoenix. Prescott was in town for the Super Bowl, where he was named NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year.
And for a team that has finished 12-5 in two consecutive seasons only to fall short in the playoffs, that feels about right. The Cowboys have been good enough to get to the tournament, but they haven’t had the horsepower to play their best football against like competition.
The Cowboys aren’t tearing apart the engine. They’re giving it a tune-up.
“I think if anything, it’s things that need to be changed,” the 29-year-old passer said. “It’s great to dial in, fix some things, get sharper and crisper. I’m excited.”
McCarthy will now handle play-calling duties on game day, as he did for most of his tenure in Green Bay. Brian Schottenheimer, a veteran offensive coordinator, will now fill that role again for the Cowboys after a year of consultancy work in which he advance-prepped future opponents’ game plans for Moore.
And of course, there will be some new faces in the offensive huddle with Prescott. Dallas has decisions to make regarding their running back tandem, needs to bolster their wide receiving corps, has a tight end whose franchise tag is up, and is faced with a couple of very large question marks along its offensive line.
So, yes, change is coming.
And that’s okay with Prescott.
“Sometimes change is good,” he said. “I’m a big believer in change, and I’m excited for Mike calling the plays. I’m excited for Schotty. I’m excited for just being able to dial into this offense and just really get it to where we want it to be.
“I’m excited as hell.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
[mm-video type=video id=01gsdcq59c7vfsbf18c9 playlist_id=01eqbwens7sctqdrqg player_id=01eqbvhghtkmz2182d image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gsdcq59c7vfsbf18c9/01gsdcq59c7vfsbf18c9-92eeac079f963e493c3084eaa875bf4f.jpg]