Getty The Cowboys season ended sooner than expected.
Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, which comes as a surprise to most fans. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy revealed the news during his March 1 press conference during the NFL Combine. McCarthy described the shoulder procedure as a “clean up” and added that he is back at the Cowboys facility preparing for next season.
“I think like a lot of guys, it’s obviously a very difficult end to the season,” McCarthy explained. “I think Dak has done a good job getting away and processing it. But he’s back at it, he’s been in the building.
“Actually, he was one of eight players that had postseason surgery. So, he had a cleanup of his left shoulder. It’s something that needed to be done so he’s rehabbing that, but he’s starting his process to get back into it.”
Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins added some context on Prescott’s status reporting that the quarterback “isn’t expected to miss anything in the offseason.”
“A source said the specific procedure Dak Prescott had was arthroscopic surgery on the left shoulder,” Watkins said during a series of March 1 tweets. “It’s not considered serious. …One add on Dak Prescott, a source said QB1 isn’t expected to miss anything in the offseason.”
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Dak on Calf: ‘I Wouldn’t Say That It Lingered as Long as People Gave Me the Excuse of It’
McCarthy added that Prescott’s shoulder is of “no concern” and the quarterback is not expected to miss any time with the rehab process. While McCarthy downplayed the magnitude of Prescott’s recent surgery, it is less than ideal for a quarterback who dealt with both a shoulder and calf injury last season. Prescott also had multiple ankle surgeries after sustaining a season-ending injury on October 11, 2020.
The Cowboys QB1 made no mention of the surgery during his February 10 interview on The Rich Eisen Show. Prescott even noted that he felt people had overblown the impact of his calf injury on his performance in 2021.
“I mean, obviously, went on for a couple of weeks,” Prescott remarked when asked about his calf injury. “Going on to that bye week I was able to rest it then miss the next week out in Minnesota, but I wouldn’t say that it lingered as long as people gave me the excuse of it. I went through a period in the time right there in the season just didn’t play my best ball, and people tried to say it was the calf and the calf got better. I did everything that I needed to do for it to heal.”
McCarthy: ‘It Was Just Something That He Felt He Needed to Get Cleaned Up’
McCarthy noted that Prescott was one of eight Cowboys players that needed offseason surgery. The Cowboys coach mentioned Chauncey Golston, Brandon Smith, Donovan Wilson, Michael Gallup and Randy Gregory as some of the additional players who had procedures. McCarthy dismissed the possibility that Prescott’s shoulder impacted his play last season.
“I don’t think so, Dak practiced full-go throughout,” McCarthy added. “But it was just something that he felt he needed to get cleaned up.”
The revelation of Prescott’s surgery came after McCarthy was asked what it was like this offseason for the quarterback not have to deal with the contract uncertainty that headlined the previous two years. Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million deal with the Cowboys in 2021.