dallas’ qb dak prescott: what his calf strain means for the team
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During most of Wednesday’s practice that was open to the media, Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott showed no ill effects from his right calf strain he suffered on Oct. 17 that put his availability for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in some question.
Prescott has already been through enough with the ankle injury he suffered from last year. And yet at practice, he went through a warmup prior to practice and did not take part in the individual football drills with the rest of his quarterbacks. However, he went through simulated drops off to the side and threw a few passes to these teammates without any problems.
But Prescott was officially listed as limited during Wednesday’s practice but player CeeDee Lamb said that Prescott looked fairly regular. Prescott suffered his injury on the winning touchdown pass to Lamb in overtime against the Patriots, and the Cowboys benefitted from having their bye week the next week. It definitely would’ve been a tough one for him to have to play the next week for sure. But everyone on the team, including owner and general manager Jerry Jones, said he’s very optimistic about Prescott’s chances of playing on Sunday, but with the practice week starting Wednesday, the Cowboys will take a conservative approach before making any final decision on Prescott.
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McCarthy stated that usually, players can play with a calf strain earlier in the rehab process than the other positions, but considering the Cowboys are playing their seventh game of the year Sunday and have a 3.5-game lead in the NFC East, fans wonder if that impacts the club’s decision on Prescott. It’s a decision though that will be made if Prescott’s rehab process is a success, McCarthy stated that Cooper Rush will get work with the No. 1 offense regardless of Prescott’s health.
Rush, however, has not played in a game since 2019 and hasn’t thrown a pass since 2017, completing 1 of 2 throws behind Prescott. However, McCarthy needs Cooper ready for anything and makes sure Dak is getting everything he needs as well. Ezekiel Elliot was asked if he believes Prescott will play on Sunday and he said he wasn’t sure, but added, “From what we are hearing it sounds like he will be available. But, not saying I am worried about it because obviously, we want to have Dak out there, but I have a lot of confidence in [Rush].”
Lamb and other players stated that the team is planning as if Prescott will be playing and even if he’s not, the Cowboys are prepared for whoever they have up next. But they’re very positive Prescott will be out there on Sunday, against the Minnesota Vikings on Halloween night.
