The Cowboys quarterback has not played since Week 9 and is not anticipated to play again until 2025. What we know is as follows.
Ever since the Week 9 loss to Atlanta at the beginning of November, the Dallas Cowboys have had to function without their primary quarterback, Dak Prescott.
That was the 31-year-old’s final appearance for Mike McCarthy’s squad, which has struggled with injuries this season. Prescott won’t return until 2025; he has only made five appearances this season.
What is Prescott’s injury? What time will he return?
During Dallas’ Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on November 3, Prescott had a partial tendon avulsion in his hamstring. To put it simply, the muscle has somewhat separated from the bone. Ten days after the injury, he had season-ending surgery, and it will take him around three months to recuperate.
The Cowboys would have had to wait twice as long if they had chosen a prudent, rest-and-rehab approach, which would have kept Prescott out of action for about six weeks.
However, it was determined that surgery was the best course of action to guarantee the quarterback’s full recovery given the team’s standing and prospects of qualifying for the playoffs.
According to Prescott, who spoke to CBS earlier in December, “I’m going to start OTAs [organized team activities] and start the offseason with no restrictions, full go.” After that, “[I’ll be] just doing everything I can to be the best quarterback and leader of this team to help this team come in next year with the best outfit that we can.”
What are the Cowboys’ 2024 quarterbacking statistics with Prescott?
The Cowboys had a 3-5 record in their first eight games of the 2024 season with Prescott at quarterback. The quarterback, who inked a four-year, $280 million contract extension with the Cowboys in September, completed 185 of his 286 passes for 1,978 yards, 11 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, making him the highest-paid player in the NFL.
Without Prescott, what are the Cowboys’ 2024 statistics?
Cooper Rush, the backup quarterback, has started five straight games while Prescott has been recuperating. Since Week 9, Dallas has gone 3-3 for a 6-8 overall record, which is still in the running for the playoffs but is as good as it can be.
According to Pro Football Network’s Playoff Predictor, the Cowboys have a 1.3% chance of qualifying for the playoffs because they can no longer win the NFC East division and have the 13th-best record in the NFC conference. Dallas’ postseason odds are less than 1%, according to an even more dire prediction from the NFL’s Next Gen Stats platform.
