Tag: Dak Prescott

This Cowboy may be the worst to play his position in the entire NFL in 2024

Things have gone from bad to bottom-of-the-barrel worse at the QB position for the Cowboys in 2024. | From @KDDrummondNFL

Things have not been going well for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024. The calendar year started with a chilly, Week 18 road win to clinch the NFC East title in Landover, MD. Nothing good has happened since. The team returned home to be shockingly blown out the water by Green Bay in the wild-card round. The offseason saw free agency malaise, and a failure to bring back their own key guys and no movement for their star players on expiring deals.

When they finally put ink to paper there, injuries began to pile up and a lame-duck coaching staff proved incapable of inspiring the troops. Suffice to say, the Cowboys have earned their 3-7 record. Among the issues for Dallas was runner-up MVP Dak Prescott’s down season, made worse by his season-ending hamstring injury.

Prescott was in the bottom third of NFL quarterback performance this season, but what’s happened since he left has shone a light to how he was keeping things together with duct tape, paper clips and McGyver’s ingenuity.

For his replacement, veteran QB Cooper Rush, is playing like the worst quarterback the NFL has seen in 2024.

Quarterback Adjusted EPA through Week 11

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— Ben Baldwin (@rbsdm.com) November 20, 2024 at 9:05 AM

EPA, or Expected Points Added, measures the impact a play has on the likelihood of scoring. With EPA, yardage, field position, and down and distance all weigh in on what the expected net points would be for the situation. As an example, a first and goal at the one-yard line would represent a higher EP than a third and 10 on your own 20 yard line.

EPA is the difference between the Expected Points (EP) at the beginning of the play compared to the end of the play. It measures the plays impact on the score of the game.

Adjusted EPA factors in the quality of opponent.

Based on his play in the last two-plus games, Rush is the NFL’s worst quarterback in 2024. It’s almost like things couldn’t possibly be made worse by putting Trey Lance in the games.

Cowboys battling numerous injuries ahead of Week 12 vs. Commanders

The Cowboys are dealing with several injuries ahead of Week 12, especially on the offensive line.

It’s been a difficult season for the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has lost five consecutive games entering their Week 12 matchup against the Washington Commanders, and the injuries have started to pile up.

In addition to losing quarterback Dak Prescott for the season after eight games, the Cowboys have gone without top pass-rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence for a combined 10 games this season.

During Monday’s loss to the Houston Texans, the Cowboys lost five more starters throughout the game, including future Hall of Fame guard Zack Martin.

Martin (ankle), tight end Jake Ferguson (concussion), left tackle Tyler Guyton (shoulder), guard Tyler Smith (ankle) and safety Markquese Bell (shoulder) all left Monday’s game and did not return. With a short week, it will be interesting to see how many Cowboys can play against the Commanders.

With a backup quarterback and three ailing starters on the offensive line, the Cowboys could be in trouble against a Washington defense that has played well lately.

Dallas will reveal its first injury report for Week 12 on Wednesday.

Cowboys make decision at quarterback ahead of Week 12 at Commanders

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy names his starting QB vs. Commanders.

After a 3-2 start to the season, the Dallas Cowboys lost their fifth straight game on Monday night, falling 34-10 to the Houston Texans at home. Dallas is 0-5 at home, with opponents averaging over 37 points per game.

The Cowboys’ former defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, is now the head coach of the 7-4 Washington Commanders. On Sunday, Quinn’s Commanders host the reeling Cowboys.

With quarterback Dak Prescott out for the season, Cooper Rush has started for the Cowboys under center for the last two weeks. Even though Dallas has scored only 16 combined points in Rush’s two starts, he’ll get the call again this weekend at Washington.

While Rush will start, the Cowboys will have specific packages for quarterback Trey Lance.

Rush has appeared in four career games vs. Washington, including last season. He has one start against the Commanders, completing 15 of 27 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 25-10 Dallas win in 2022.

Lance is a former No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. The Cowboys traded a fourth-round draft pick to the 49ers for Lance ahead of last season. Lance has appeared in one game this season for Dallas.

‘It’s not a death sentence’: Jake Ferguson has faith in backup QBs, thinks Cowboys’ season can still be saved

Jake Ferguson explains why the Cowboys’ season can still be saved despite Dak Prescott being out with a hamstring injury

After the 34-6 obliteration at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10 at AT&T Stadium, it seems quite clear that it’s time to close the curtains on the Dallas Cowboys season (yes, pun intended).

This team has been playing with a sub-zero confidence level since the Week 2 beatdown against the now 3-7 Saints and continues to show week in and week out that they don’t have any answers. Throw in losing your starting quarterback for the rest of the year and having to rely on Cooper Rush and Trey Lance to help turn your season around, it doesn’t look promising.

Despite the frustration, tight end Jake Ferguson still has hope. Ferguson recently joined Sports Seriously, on behalf of USAA, and said he wasn’t ready to count Dallas out just yet.

“There’s two things you can do right now in this situation. You can roll over, you can say we’re done, or you can buckle down, figure out what it may be that needs to be done and start winning some games.”

They are sitting at 3-6 with only eight games left and are dealing with injuries at nearly every position. So how can they turn it around? Well, that starts with coaching and quarterback play.

 

Yes, Dallas went 4-1 with Cooper Rush under center back in 2022 when Dak Prescott was sidelined with a thumb injury for five weeks, but that was with a legitimate run game and a remarkably stout defense— regardless, that seems like a non-issue in the locker room.

“I have full confidence in this team and this coaching staff to pull it together and create the schemes so we can go out and prep the whole week and get ready to execute,” Ferguson said.

Another issue that Dallas needs to fix, and quickly for that matter, is their play at home. In stark contrast to their season last year, in which the Cowboys went 9-0 at home (a 17-game home win streak dating back to 2022), they have now fallen to 0-4 at home in the 2024 season— technically 0-5 if you want to count their Wild Card playoff loss to the Packers last season.

When asked about their struggles at AT&T Stadium and how much that’s dependent on red zone execution, Ferguson didn’t hold back.

“If you want to win games you got to score points. Last game, having two opportunities where I think both were inside the 15, maybe inside the 10, and not executing on that… it’s hard it’s hard to win games doing that.”

He’s right, and from the outside looking in, the two main factors that contribute to that are the lack of efficiency on the ground and the lack of talent outside of CeeDee Lamb.

Ferguson has shown many moments of potential stardom and is without a doubt an elite blocker. However, he’s struggling to get open, which ultimately, comes down to the fact that Mike McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer have taken away more of his seam routes so he can chip more at the line of scrimmage.

“My job is to do what they tell me to do. I’m doing whatever I can to help this team win and we’re not winning, so there’s obviously some more things that I can do to help this team,” Ferguson said when asked about his use and production.

Additionally, he reiterated that this is not the end.

“It’s not a death sentence. There are things you can do and there are ways to get out of it and it starts with winning games, it starts with one day at a time.”

You can watch the full conversation in the video above.

Jerry Jones announces Dak Prescott to undergo surgery, done for the season

Dak Prescott is officially done for the 2024 season

The Dallas Cowboys will have Cooper Rush at quarterback with Trey Lance as his backup for the remainder of this season.

That’s because team owner Jerry Jones announced Tuesday that Dak Prescott will undergo surgery to fix his hamstring injury.

The procedure will take place on Wednesday and will end Prescott’s 2024 season.

Prescott threw for 1,978 yards with 11 touchdowns against eight picks in 2024.

Is Dak Prescott playing today? Injury news update for Cowboys quarterback

Here’s the latest status for the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott for Week 10 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Dallas Cowboys have spent the last month trying to figure things out, to no avail. The way the 2024 season has played out for them, it’s probably customary for them to assume the worst while hoping for the best. Well, the best has decided to take a break and keep sending the worst.

After their third straight defeat, 27-21 in Week 9 at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, the Cowboys sit with a 3-5 record and not much hope in sight. Dallas is in the middle of a crucial five-game stretch against the NFC’s best teams and they have not acquitted themselves well. In Test No. 4 they host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10 and their quarterback situation is unideal.

That’s because Dak Prescott suffered a hamstring injury during the third quarter of last week’s loss. On top of numerous other injuries the team has had to fight through in 2024, they now move forward without their field general. Prescott has been ruled out of the contest.

Not only that, but it’s expected that Prescott is going to undergo season-ending surgery soon.

It is expected that Cooper Rush will step in and play for Prescott this week against the Eagles.  The last time Rush played against Philadelphia was in 2022, in his fifth and final game as Prescott’s replacement. Now he will start in the first post-Prescott game of 2024.

Prescott had been averaging 241 passing yards a game and had a career-worst 3.8% touchdown rate, against a 2.8% interception rate.  After signing a $240 million contract extension in the offseason, Prescott and the Cowboys have floundered on offense this season.

Commanders will not face Cowboys QB Dak Prescott in Week 12

Dak Prescott is reportedly done for the season, meaning he will miss both games vs. Commanders.

The Dallas Cowboys are struggling. At 3-5, they are three-and-a-half games behind the Washington Commanders in the NFC East. The Cowboys have dealt with injuries and inconsistent play and look quite a bit different than they did one year ago.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones famously said the Cowboys were “all-in” for 2024 and proceeded to do nothing in free agency. Dallas lost multiple key players and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

This season, the Cowboys have lost star edge rusher Micah Parsons and quarterback Dak Prescott, among others this season. While Parsons is expected back, Prescott’s season is apparently over.

On Saturday, Adam Schefter of ESPN revealed that Prescott was undergoing season-ending surgery for his partially torn hamstring.

With Prescott potentially out for the season, he will miss both games against the Commanders. Washington and Dallas meet in Weeks 12 and 18.

Cooper Rush is expected to be Dallas’ new starting quarterback. Rush has played well in the past and has led the Cowboys to a win over the Commanders in the past. Dallas could use this as an opportunity to see former top-five pick Trey Lance.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott opts for surgery, will he return in 2024?

The Dallas Cowboys will be without QB Dak Prescott for the remainder of 2024, according to reports by ESPN. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys waited all week, choosing inaction to keep hope alive. The proper action was to read the writing on the wall, that quarterback Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury from Week 9 had played his last snaps for the foreseeable future. The club didn’t make a move though, choosing to not yet place Prescott on the Reserved/Injured list, holding out hope that a second opinion was going to give him a shot at an early return.

On Saturday, though, it appears the truth has eventually surfaced. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Prescott has opted to go the route of surgery, and it will knock him out for the rest of 2024.

Prescott’s year was a disappointing one, as he leaves the Cowboys with an overall record of 3-5 on the season, and in the midst of a three-game losing streak. The Cowboys nine-year starter was enduring one of (if not) the worst season of his career.

Completing under 65% of his passes this year, Prescott has already thrown eight interceptions on the season in just eight games, on pace to break his season high. His 3.8 touchdown throw percentage will end up as his worst of the year as the Dallas offense has struggled to find a compliment to WR CeeDee Lamb. Lamb himself got off to a slow start on the season, and when added to a rushing attack that wasn’t going anywhere and Prescott’s season-long decrease in mobility, the offense has plummeted from their normal spot near or at the top of NFL offensive rankings.

Now the team will be under the direction of their backup signal callers, Cooper Rush and/or Trey Lance.

Report: Dak Prescott’s injury tore tendon off bone

From @ToddBrock24f7: NFL Network’s Jane Slater says Prescott’s injury typically takes more than 4 weeks of recovery time, but the QB is seeking other opinions.

The details of Dak Prescott’s injury are in, and they’re not for the faint of heart.

Per NFL Network’s Jane Slater, the Cowboys quarterback appears to have suffered a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon, partially tearing it right off the bone. ESPN’s Todd Archer later said his source confirmed that diagnosis.

Head coach Mike McCarthy had already ruled Prescott out for Sunday’s home matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, but- despite owner Jerry Jones hinting that a subsequent move to injured reserve was imminent– the Cowboys have not made any official determination about a timeline for his return.

According to Slater’s sources, the injury typically “takes more than a four-week recovery,” but Prescott is said to be seeking secondary opinions. The team is therefore allowing that process to play out further before placing Prescott on IR, which would automatically mean a four-game absence.

“In some cases,” Slater posted on X, “they let it scar over, repair and then strengthen.” But, she said on-air Wednesday evening, the injury could require surgery, depending on its severity.

Prescott told reporters he “felt something” on a scramble late in the third quarter of Sunday’s 27-21 loss to Atlanta. After the sack by Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss, Prescott went back to the huddle and ran the next play.

Upon trying to step into a cross-field throw, however, he pulled up noticeably.

“I felt a pull, felt something I’ve never felt,” Prescott explained.

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He lasted one more play to finish the offense’s drive and then did not return for the Cowboys’ next possession.

Backup Cooper Rush finished the Week 9 contest and has been tabbed as the starter this weekend, but third-string option Trey Lance may figure into the mix, too, even if only on a handful of gadget-type plays or run situations.

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Eagles OC Kellen Moore breaks down what QB Cooper Rush brings to Cowboys offense

Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore breaks down what Cooper Rush brings to the Dallas Cowboys offense

The Eagles know what it’s like to face the Cowboys without quarterback Jalen Hurts, and Dallas will now face Philadelphia again without Dak Prescott.

Prescott missed the October 2022 game against the Eagles with an ankle fracture, and Cooper Rush was 18-38 passing for 474 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.

With Prescott out four games with a hamstring injury, Rush will again lead Dallas against Philadelphia in an intense NFC East rivalry that could put the Cowboys on the brink of playoff elimination.

As the Eagles prepare to take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10, Vic Fangio’s defensive coaching staff can ask Kellen Moore for insight on likely starter Cooper Rush.

Moore spent four seasons with Rush in Dallas—one year as QB coach and three as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator—giving the Eagles’ staff intimate knowledge of the signal-caller.

Moore had nothing but praise for Rush, who’ll be confident facing the Eagles pass rush.

“Coop is a really smart player,” Moore said Tuesday, via the team’s official transcript. “He has a great feel for the game. Anticipation. Vision. Feel for what the defense is doing. I think he puts himself in a really good position. He can handle volume from an offensive game plan perspective. When Coop has gone in there, he’s had success. It’ll still be a challenge for us.”

Dallas will likely put Dak Prescott on injured reserve, knocking him out for at least four weeks. The team has Trey Lance as an option under center.

Rush won’t have the benefit of a dominant defense that, in 2022, allowed 15.8 PPG in Rush’s five starts (28.1 PPG allowed in 2024), while Moore’s offense averaged 128.4 rush (82.0 rush YPG in 2024).

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