AP, FRISCO, Texas — According to a person with knowledge of the matter, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is looking for a second opinion while still attempting to avoid surgery that would terminate his season due to a torn hamstring. According to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, Prescott intends to see a doctor on Monday because a surgical decision has not yet been made.
During last week’s 27–21 defeat to Atlanta, Prescott sustained an injury. It would be the 31-year-old’s second long-term injury in five seasons if surgery is necessary. Prescott will be replaced by Cooper Rush in Sunday’s game against Philadelphia (6-2), an NFC East foe. Prescott’s injury is endangering the Cowboys’ three-year playoff run, and the reigning division champions (3-5) are on a three-game losing streak. He will most likely miss at least a month already.
In 2020, the most recent season Dallas missed the playoffs, Prescott missed the last 11 games due to a broken ankle. After hurting his hamstring the previous weekend, he continued to play, but he missed the fourth quarter. Prescott signed a deal just hours before the season began, becoming the first player to make an average of $60 million annually. Next season marks the start of that four-year, $240 million contract. Even with a healthy Prescott, the Cowboys were having offensive difficulties, and Rush won’t have the same group of teammates as when he went 4-1 as the 2016 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year two years ago. In the first game of the 2022 season, Prescott broke his thumb.
The Cowboys have the second-worst running offence in the NFL, and their offensive line is youthful and erratic. Rush, a 30-year-old undrafted player in his eighth season out of Central Michigan, will be making his seventh career start. In 2021, when Prescott suffered a strained calf, he also won a game. “You play a tonne of ball in college, it’s stuff you’ve been doing your whole life,” Rush stated. “The system is the system; trust who you are. You fulfil your obligations. You follow your coach’s instructions.
Prescott is out for the Cowboys, but Micah Parsons, their standout pass rusher, should make a comeback against the Eagles after missing four games due to a high ankle sprain.