The Dallas Cowboys came out of the 33-30 overtime loss to the Cardinals in Week 8 mostly without major injuries but with new concerns about health. Injuries, of course, force players to miss games. Health problems, though, slow players down but generally allow them to keep playing. It was obvious on Sunday that Joey Porter Jr., the newly acquired star cornerback, is having a hard time playing through his ankle injury, but he’s still trying to do so. It became obvious on Monday, after team EVP Stephen Jones said so in a radio appearance, that George Pickens’ hamstring injury has been serious enough to cost him some snaps in the Dallas offense, and perhaps to limit how he is being used as a downfield receiver. But it’s not become obvious, yet, that Dak Prescott has been dealing with injury.
But there’s been speculation. Prescott suffered a rib injury against the Packers in Week 6 when he took a shot that caused him to lose his breath on the turf momentarily. He was cut on the hand against Houston in Week 4, and that required a wrap but did not appear to affect him much. Prescott has looked off on throws he normally makes lately, and was just 19-for-29 passing on Sunday. Additionally, according to Pro Football Focus, Prescott is only trying deep passes (more than 20 yards) on 8.9% of his attempts. That’s the second- lowest of his career only higher than 2017, when that number was 8.8%.
Dak Prescott ‘Played Well Considering the Protection’
That’s where there is some concern about Prescott’s health. After a fast start, Prescott has thrown for just 221.7 yards per game in his last three outings, and has a quarterback rating of 86.4
But team owner Jerry Jones was asked on Tuesday whether Prescott is dealing with some ailment or other.
As Jon Machota of The Athletic wrote on Twitter/X: “Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on @1053thefan says Dak Prescott is healthy. ‘I thought he played well (Sunday) considering the protection and us not being able to get the running game going.'”
Cowboys Got Conservative in Game Plan
The downturn in Prescott’s numbers probably have less to do with health and his performance and more to do with just how the Cowboys are calling their games. There was criticism of coach Brian Schottenheimer for turning conservative with his calls when the Cowboys had a two-score lead in the fourth quarter. But Jones indicated that’s by design.
He said: “We were playing a game to avoid turnovers the best we could. The gameplan you saw was doing that. You can call that conservative if you want to. The game plan was based on us running the ball better than when we ran it. And when they did stack it really good … it’s certainly based on us giving [Dak Prescott] better protection.”
Cowboys’ Jerry Jones Updates Dak Prescott Injury Concerns