One of the biggest questions this offseason for the Dallas Cowboys has been the backup quarterback spot. At first, it seemed like it was a foregone conclusion Garrett Gilbert would win the job, but that took a twist last Saturday against the Houston Texans. Cooper Rush completed 10 of his 12 passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 139.9. That trumped Gilbert completing three out of his five passes for 30 yards.
The offense flowed more fluently with Cooper at the helm, and it earned him the chance to start the Cowboy’s final preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rush has the support of team owner Jerry Jones who feels the team’s offense can still operate its plan with Rush under center.
“It’s great though to have a quarterback, for instance in Cooper Rush, that understands the game,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday.
“We can do everything. We can do our complete portfolio as far as our offense is concerned with Cooper Rush. He’s a little different, but still, we can do everything. That’s good. I’ve seen the time when the backup quarterback didn’t allow you to do everything you wanted to do. That’s really good there. We’ll see how this game checks out with the competition here and then we’ll make a decision this weekend.”
Rush was Dak Prescott’s backup from 2017 to 2019 but only completed one of his three passes over that span for a minuscule three yards. He was waived on May 4, 2020, after the Cowboys signed veteran Andy Dalton to backup Prescott but was claimed by the New York Giants a day later. After being waived and signed to the practice squad, Rush was released in September.
Once Prescott went down with a season-ending ankle injury last October, the Cowboys signed Rush to their practice squad and elevated him to the active roster in November.
Now that he’s taken over first-team snaps in practice, Rush is focused on earning his roster spot which is nothing new to him.
“It’s always an uphill battle,” Rush said. “You’re competing every game. You’re always hanging on. You’re always trying to get a roster spot, get the two spot. That’s kind of the mentality for every guy in here and me especially. Just try to get in there, get your reps and capitalize on those reps in games or practices and always out here just trying to make the team.”
Rush didn’t just outplay Gilbert on Saturday he’s done so for the entire preseason. While Gilbert has gone 19 of 34 (55.8%) for 214 yards, Rush has completed 25 of his 38 passes (65.7%) for 256 yards. Another strong performance by Rush against the Jaguars and the backup role to Prescott looks to be his for 2021.
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