Getty The Cowboys season ended sooner than expected.
Dak Prescott is drawing criticism for more than just the team’s disappointing final play as the Dallas Cowboys were eliminated from the postseason after their loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Prescott is taking heat for his postgame comments where the quarterback appeared to sign off on fans throwing items at the referees.
“Dak Prescott, after first talking about the beer bottles that may have hit some Cowboys players, when informed that the beer bottles thrown by Cowboys fans were targeted at the refs, not Cowboys players: ‘Oh, well, credit to them, then,'” WFAA’s Mike Leslie tweeted on January 16.
Leslie added that Prescott “doubled down” on these comments later during his press conference.
“Dak Prescott was given an opportunity, in the final question of the press conference, to back off this comment, and re-think it,” Leslie noted in a series of follow-up tweets. “He passed. In fact, in a lot of ways, he doubled down.”
ALL the latest Dallas Cowboys news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Cowboys newsletter here!
Prescott on Refs: ‘The Fans Felt the Same Way as Us’
Prescott was clearly not pleased with the way the game was officiated. The Cowboys quarterback joked that the “refs took off and got out of there so fast.”
“The fans felt the same way as us,” Prescott said, per Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken. “I guess that’s why the refs took off and got out of there so fast. I think everybody is upset with the way this thing played out.”
Prescott’s Comments Are an ‘Awful Look,’ Says Analyst
The Cowboys quarterback is being widely criticized for his comments about the referees. Sports Illustrated’s Mike Fisher believes Prescott will want a “re-do” on his remarks.
“I think I know @Dak a little bit,” Fisher noted on Twitter after Prescott’s postgame press conference. “He’s a conscientious thought leader. I think he’s going to want a re-do on his throwing-trash-and-bottles-at-refs hot take.”
Throughout the season, Cowboys players have had a habit of lashing out at the officiating, especially after losses. Blogging the Boys’ RJ Ochoa was critical of this trend from players and called Prescott’s comments an “awful look.”
“Dak Prescott has been the Dallas Cowboys quarterback for five years now,” Ochoa tweeted on January 16. “He has only ever said the right thing when behind a microphone or in front of a camera. But this is an awful look for him. What a horrible thing to say. Accept that you lost.”
McCarthy: ‘They Were Going to Put Time Back on the Clock’
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy remarked that an official told him that they were adding time back on the clock for another play. Things clearly played out much differently, and McCarthy admitted he was “shocked” there was not enough time for an additional play after Prescott’s scramble.
“I’ve never seen that come down the way it came down, as far as the collision between the umpire and the quarterback,” McCarthy remarked during his postgame press conference on January 16. “We were trying to get inside the 30 yard line to set up the last play. The mechanics were intact, I felt from our end of it.
“The communication that I was given on the sideline [was] that they were reviewing it, they were going to put time back on the clock. And next thing I know, they were running off the field. So, that’s the only facts I have for you. …Yeah, he [referee] thought they were going to put time back on the clock.”