Getty Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
A lot can change in the span of eight games. After all, we’ve seen the Dallas Cowboys go from a team with the potential to make noise this NFL season to one sitting at 3-5. And as the Cowboys move forward and attempt to finish the 2018 season on a high note and make a push towards the postseason, there’s more than pride on the line.
Obviously, the Cowboys can still win the NFC East or grab a Wild Card spot. Everything is still on the table at this point, but how the homestretch of the season plays out could wind up deciding the future of quarterback Dak Prescott.
ESPN’s Todd Archer best summed it up with two sentences:
“For Prescott and Jason Garrett, more than the season might be on the line. Their futures — short- and long-term — are on the line.”
And while this topic was bound to come up, it was essentially a foregone conclusion that owner Jerry Jones would do his best to shut it down. He tried after the loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 9, as Jori Epstein of USA TODAY revealed.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: “Tonight’s game did not – did not, I emphasize – impact my future look at Dak Prescott.”
On if he’d fire Jason Garrett in season: “I just gave a big old ‘no.’”
Jones has strayed from his word more than once on this topic, to put it gently. And while he’s likely being honest about one game not impacting his outlook on Prescott, there’s plenty of season still to be played.
It’s somewhat incredible to think about this being possible, considering it’s been just two and a half seasons since the fourth-round pick took Tony Romo’s job. Prescott was so good that he forced one of the team’s best-ever quarterbacks from a statistical standpoint to the sidelines back in 2016.
How quickly things can change.
Dak Prescott’s Struggles
After a 2017 season in which Prescott regressed, seeing a decline in completion percentage (62.9 percent), passing yards (3,324) and touchdowns (22), there was at least a viable excuse. Ezekiel Elliott missed six games due to a suspension, and the Cowboys quarterback more than tripling his interceptions to 13 was even somewhat understandable.
But the belief was that Prescott would bounce back in 2018 with Elliott set for a full season. It hasn’t been the case, though, as he’s now on pace to throw for 3,320 yards, just 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. With eight games left to be played, Prescott is four sacks shy of the most he’s taken in a single season (32) and is on pace for 14 total fumbles and eight fumbles lost.
The Cowboys will have a tough time replacing Prescott if they opt to go that route, but there’s certainly a chance Jones and company look to add another signal caller this offseason. Time will tell, but everyone is hoping to see the 25-year-old return to his old ways, and surely no one wants it to happen more than Jones.