Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has announced that he will be back in action in the Week 4 game against the Washington Commanders. Prescott was expected to be out six to eight weeks after suffering a thumb injury in the Cowboys’ first game of the 2022 NFL season, a 19-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Prescott then told ESPN’s Lisa Salters that he was going to see the doctor after that, saying he hoped to get the all-clear to resume gripping and throwing the football.
ESPN’s Todd Archer later confirmed that Prescott had been scheduled to get the stitches removed from his thumb before Monday night’s game against the New York Giants.
However, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarty has not confirmed when Prescott will return to the field. McCarthy said that it would depend on how Prescott’s thumb heals and strengthens following surgery on September 12 to repair his fractured-right thumb.
“He still has some swelling that he has to deal with. Once he gets past the swelling and the strengthening stage, then he’ll get to the point where he’ll be able to throw,” McCarthy said.
“He’ll be dealing with more rehab this week and hopefully we’ll get the swelling and the strength where it needs to be. But I do not have a timeline on when he’ll start throwing.”
Prescott’s absence was expected to be a major setback for Dallas. The two-time Pro Bowler threw for 4,449 yards and 37 touchdowns last season, leading the team to the NFC East title. He has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but the Cowboys missed the playoffs entirely when he played only five games in 2020.
The Cowboys chose not to place him on the injured reserve. Instead, they relied on backup Cooper Rush to fill in for him. Rush has made a stable performance so far. He threw for 215 yards and a touchdown, leading Dallas to a 23-16 victory over the Giants in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium.
Jones wants to create controversy
Dallas owner Jerry Jones said he had pushed Rush to play well to create controversy regarding the possibility of Prescott assuming the starting role.
“Of course, I would. Of course. That means we’d have won,” Jones said. “If he comes in there and plays as well as Prescott played, Rush? Played that well over these next games ahead? I’d walk to New York to get that.”
Rush has the possibility to repeat what Prescott did in 2016. Prescott was a fourth-round rookie pick that year, filling in for an injured Tony Romo, who suffered a back injury in a preseason game. The Cowboys won a franchise-record 11 straight games after losing the season opener that year. Romo never regained his starting position.
However, Prescott will not miss a couple of months as Romo did. During an interview with 105.3 The Fan, Jones said that he believed Prescott would be back in action much sooner than expected.
“Well, of course, we want Dak to be here next week,” Jones said. “That’s the thing. You do. But Dak and I want Rush to lead the team to a victory here and get another win and get another win. That’s the only way to look at it. Looking back when Dak was playing instead of Tony, it was game by game.”