Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is slated to visit a doctor on Tuesday for a checkup on his right hand. The results of that examination should go a long way in determining whether the veteran starter will return to action on Sunday against the defending world champs.
But while the man who signs his paychecks is pleased with Prescott’s progress, Jerry Jones doesn’t seem to be laying any sort of legitimate groundwork for a comeback this week from No. 4.
“I know that it’s better,” Jones said Tuesday morning on 105.3 The Fan of Prescott’s throwing hand, “and I know that he’s going to go out there every day and make progress toward being able to grip the ball.”
Prescott got the stitches removed from his right thumb last Monday. Since then, he’s been waiting for the swelling to subside and working to re-establish his grip while doing just light tossing.
But when asked point-blank whether Prescott is gripping the ball right now, five days before kickoff, Jones was equally pointed in his reply.
“No. Not well enough to play.”
Of course, hurrying Prescott back to the field isn’t the emergency that most people- Jones included- expected it would be when he suffered the fracture hitting a Buccaneers defender mid-throw in the season-opening loss.
Backup Cooper Rush stepped into the starting role and hasn’t lost yet. Things looked bleak at 0-1 when Prescott was thought to be lost until perhaps Week 8. But sitting at 3-1 is a much different scenario, even with road games against the Super Bowl champion Rams and the top-ranked Eagles next on the schedule.
Rather than staring down the barrel of a lost season, though, the Cowboys are fighting for a share of the NFC East lead at the quarter-turn mark.
Prescott himself had hinted that he was eyeing the Los Angeles trip for his possible return, and the Week 5 game might provide a chance to work out some kinks before the divisional clash with Philadelphia the following week.
Prescott will no doubt push his limits to stick to that timeline.
“He’ll have a big week,” Jones reported, “and he’ll be hard on himself getting it ready to go.”
But the fact is, thanks to the surprising play from his understudy, there is suddenly no reason to rush Dak back. (Pun very much intended.)
Head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that he wanted to see a full week of practice from Prescott before penciling him back into the lineup. That he already (apparently) won’t get a “full week” this week would seem to indicate that Rush will likely get the start at SoFi Stadium.
Jerry Jones when asked on @1053thefan whether it's fair to say Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (thumb) won't play Sunday at Rams: "We're just starting the week. Let's see how the week goes." Any chance Cooper Rush starts in favor of a healthy Prescott? "No, no. As I see it right today."
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 4, 2022
Make no mistake; this not a quarterback controversy. The job is Prescott’s whenever he’s fully ready. And the resilient Cowboys should be happy to ride with Rush until their starter’s hand is once again really and truly fully ready to retake the controls of the Dallas offense.
It’s almost there.
“I don’t know that you could ask for better news- technically, physically- in how it’s responding, how it’s healing,” Jones said. “All those things are a go.”
That’s Dr. Jerry’s prognosis. A second opinion from Prescott’s actual doctor should be coming shortly.
[pickup_prop id=”28426″]
[listicle id=703369]
[listicle id=703473]
[listicle id=703483]
[lawrence-newsletter]