If there’s anybody who knows spin, it’s Cowboys owner, general manager, and chief eternal optimist Jerry Jones.
And despite a surprising 4-1 record on an undrafted backup quarterback’s watch, Jones senses that his team could be getting even better in the coming days- just in time, perhaps, for a divisional showdown with the last undefeated club in the NFL.
All it’s going to take to get Dak Prescott back in the starting lineup after fracturing the thumb on his throwing hand exactly one month ago, the owner says, is spin.
“Let’s put it like this,” Jones said Tuesday during his weekly call-in on 105.3 The Fan. “He’s got to spin the ball. He’s got to really spin the ball.”
The fracture was originally thought to be an injury that could have the two-time Pro Bowler sidelined for six to eight weeks. Reports starting surfacing almost immediately after his Sept. 12 surgery, however, that Prescott might return after missing just four games.
Of course, much of that best-case-scenario talk came from Jones.
Second-string passer Cooper Rush was a nice story last year when he filled in for Prescott for one game and picked up a win. But being thrust into the starting role for an extended period? Amid talk of a ruined season before Week 2, Jones needed to offer hope to the fanbase that No. 4 would be back in the saddle sooner rather than later.
The stitches came out of Prescott’s hand, the swelling went down, and it all became about grip. Prescott has been seen doing some light tossing and even showed off his handshake strength to Fox sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi during the team’s Week 5 visit to Los Angeles.
While that date with the Rams marked Prescott’s fourth missed game, it also saw Rush guide the Cowboys to their fourth straight win in his understudy role.
Now, contrary to those early sky-is-falling fears, Sunday’s meeting with the Eagles isn’t the Cowboys’ last-gasp chance to save their season; it’s an opportunity for Dallas to move into a tie with Philadelphia for the NFC East lead and to make the notion of taking a 7-1 record into their bye week a realistic possibility.
All it’s going to take… is spin.
“Just think about it,” Jones continued on-air Tuesday. “Put your hand down on something that would be the equivalent of a football. Try to do that without thumb strength. Try to spin that ball. Try to direct that ball without thumb strength if you’re really giving it a proper thumb. You can’t do it. But if you do have strength and can grip the ball, then you can spin the ball.”
Prescott was reportedly scheduled to meet with a doctor on Tuesday, and the expectations are that he’ll be cleared to start throwing for real on Wednesday. Head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that he’d “like to see” Prescott handle a full week of practice before reclaiming his starter’s spot.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport called Prescott “a long shot to play” this Sunday, saying he “still can’t grip a football.”
Prescott, however, says he can.
“Can he zip the ball out there and make the throw?” Jones asked. “We’ll start working on that Wednesday real hard. He’s certainly doing the kinds of things medically that you want to do.”
So now- and for the next four days- it’s all about spin.
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