The Cowboys are set to trot out their fourth starting quarterback of the 2020 season, and their third in the last three weeks. But 48 hours before kickoff, the identity of the man who’ll take the reins of the 2-6 Dallas offense as the team faces undefeated Pittsburgh remains a mystery.
Perfectly fitting the theme of this week, it’s too close to call, even for head coach Mike McCarthy. He’s pulled the plug on the Ben DiNucci experiment; that much is known. But whether it’s newly-acquired Garrett Gilbert or newly-re-signed Cooper Rush taking snaps against the Steelers come Sunday, the coach has yet to decide.
“We’re still working through the process,” McCarthy told reporters Friday when asked who would get the Week 9 start. “I think the most important point, as far as the goal, is to make sure both Garrett and Cooper are ready. The reps aren’t being distributed equally- and I don’t really want to get into the specifics of it- but just learning from last week’s experience with all the pressure in the Philadelphia game, just to give us the best opportunity, my focus is to make sure both Garrett and Cooper are ready to play in the game.”
One has to believe that Gilbert, a sixth-round draft pick in 2014 who’s bounced around since as a journeyman backup, is the one getting more snaps in practice. He was the AAF’s leader in passing yards, attempts, completions, and passer rating for its eight-week lifespan in 2019, but has thrown just six balls in NFL action.
McCarthy, though, thinks the 29-year-old brings experience with him that doesn’t necessarily show up on a resume.
“He’s played a lot of quarterback. This guy grew up as a quarterback. His father was a quarterback. He knows how to play the position,” McCarthy said of Gilbert. “There’s no lack for confidence or know-how. It’s about getting the timing and the continuity in order as far as running the offense. I find him to have a lot of confidence. He’s been like that since the day he arrived.”
Rush, however, has a little more history and familiarity with the Cowboys on his side. He served as depth in the Dallas quarterbacks room for three seasons, and was cut only when the team signed Andy Dalton.
“I think you’ve got to remember Cooper went through the spring with us,” McCarthy pointed out in his Friday press conference. “He’s in touch with the language and the terminology changes from last year to this year. Conceptually, there’s not an understanding or a need-to-know issue at all.”
Apart from the percentage of practice reps each player is getting this week, McCarthy says the plays being practiced are the same for both passers.
“We’re operating off the same game plan for both.”
The coach admits the starting assignment could literally come down to a gut feeling he has on game day.
“That’s part of it. That’s why you just really pay attention to all the little things that go into playing the position. I think at the end of the day, we have two young guys that don’t have a ton of game day experience, but they’re both very smart. The game comes easy to them. But this is more about the timing and being connected and in touch with the cadence and the operation. These are things you normally knock out in training camp. We’re up against it a little bit with the time in front of us. But both Garrett and Cooper… they know how to play quarterback.”
One strategy McCarthy does rule out, though, is a series-by-series or a play-by-play rotation, similar to the one Tom Landry employed during the Cowboys’ 1971 season with Craig Morton and Roger Staubach.
“We will not alternate quarterbacks. We’re going to give one of them the football and tell them to take it and run with it. We don’t know how long we’re going to be in this situation. I think it’s best to have both guys ready.”
It will evidently be either Garrett Gilbert or Cooper Rush leading the team until Andy Dalton returns from COVID-19 protocol. But like so many other things around the country this first week of November, the answer of who actually got the job will come only after a couple extra days of wondering and waiting.
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