Okay Cowboys fans, even in a week where every team in the NFC East won but the Cowboys, it’s not time to panic. That’s very hard to say at this moment. With key injuries and other chaotic events occurring, at least quarterback Dak Prescott is trying to be positive.
Sunday Night’s Game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
“This is game one,” Prescott said following a disappointing 19-3 defeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “Let’s not hit the panic button as if we just can’t do anything on offense. We have a great coaching staff. They’ll get back in there and they’ll find the things that we did well.”
Going into the game, the Cowboys already had questions about their thin receiver core and lack of big bodies among the offensive line. The one bright spot was the way both Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard ran the football, despite a poor night overall offensively.
The biggest loss of all came in the preseason when longtime offensive tackle Tyron Smith suffered a season ending ankle injury. That only made it worse for the teams moral.
Then to top it all off, came Prescott’s injury. The 29-year-old signal caller slapped his passing hand into a defensive player and then noticed that he couldn’t grab the football properly at the time.
Prescott won’t go on IR, Jones says he could return in 4 weeks
On his radio show that airs weekly on 105.3 The Fan, owner Jerry Jones applied that the Cowboys will avoid putting Prescott on IR while he waits for his surgically fixed thumb to get better. They are doing this because the team thinks he could come back within the next four games.
“I think what we’re going to do here is we won’t be putting him on IR, which means we want him to be consideration for playing within the next 4 games,” Jones said via Jon Epstein, “We will not put him on IR.”
Jerry Jones suggests #Cowboys QB Dak Prescott could return sooner than expected – @1053SS & @rjchoppyhttps://t.co/stSVWIIYCe
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) September 13, 2022
Prescott’s injury was initially expected to fall into a 6-8 week time span, but Jones and the Cowboys organization hopes he can return sooner in order to gap the IR’s four-game limit.
The Cowboys QB Options
During Prescott’s absence, the Cowboy’s do have options available to them. They could keep on with backup Cooper Rush, which would cost them no dime. They could sign Cam Newton, who is a free agent. The 33-year-old on a good day is a duel threat with both his arms and legs. They could trade for former 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo, if the 49ers decide to waive his no trade clause, while he is being paid $7 million to back up starter Trey Lance.
The Cowboys could also go the non-traditional route by picking up a quarterback from the USFL in signing KJ Costello. He joined the Mississippi State Bulldogs as a grad transfer in 2020. He also set an SEC record with 623 passing yards and 5 touchdowns in the 2020 opener against the LSU Tigers. The Bulldogs won 44-34.
Costello signed as an undrafted free agent on Aug 1, 2021, with the Los Angeles Chargers, but was waived on August 17. Costello then signed with the Philadelphia Stars in the new edition of the USFL on May 27, 2022. His team made the championship game but lost to the Birmingham Stallions.
On August 10, 2022, Costello signed with the New Orleans Saints and was waived on August 21, 2022.
No matter which option the Cowboys choose, they will have a long road ahead of them. Let’s hope Dak makes a speedy recovery to get “America’s Team” back on its feet.
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