Dak Prescott blocks out the noise, rebounds with big victory

Dak Prescott didn’t run off the field yelling, “You like that?” as Washington’s Kirk Cousins did last year. He could have, but that’s not Prescott’s style.

The Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback is the quiet, confident type.

He expected what happened Sunday to happen.

The rookie delivered his fifth career fourth-quarter comeback in 14 games and quieted talk of a quarterback controversy.

The 26-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers followed last week’s 10-7 loss to the New York Giants, when Prescott delivered the worst performance of his career.

“I don’t pay attention to the noise,” Prescott said. “I couldn’t tell you much that was said really all week. I kind of found some later in the week. But that really doesn’t bother me. If anything, it’s motivation.

“I just wanted to come back and perform after the game I played last week. That was the only thing in my mind was just to respond from last week’s performance. He said, she said doesn’t affect me.”

Prescott rebounded against the Bucs, completing 32 of 36 passes for 279 yards and a 99.0 passer rating. Prescott also had four carries for 20 yards and a touchdown.

“Steel is made from heat, and the heat is made when you screw up,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “We’ve all heard that all of our lives. I think Dak really practices that. He goes back and analyzes where he can do better and how he can do better.

“There’s one thing if you think anybody else looked at anything he might should have done in these last two ball games before Tampa, he’s looked at it a hundred times. What you really see is he really does bring to the field what he studies and what he works on away from the field.”

Prescott completed only 17 of 37 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a career-low 45.4 passer rating last week against the Giants. He opened Sunday’s game with nine consecutive completions.

Prescott said he got back to taking what the defense gave him.

“I think that’s my game,” Prescott said. “I think last week I kind of got away from that. I got away from my usual taking what they give me, getting the ball out quick and being patient. Tonight was just to get back to what I’ve been doing all year long.”

Prescott admits he spent less time on social media this week as calls began for the Cowboys to give Tony Romo his job back. Prescott won the job in Romo’s nine-game absence, leading the Cowboys to an 8-1 start.

But after Prescott’s second career loss, fans and media began debating Prescott vs. Romo. Jones didn’t help quiet the rumbling when he said on his radio show that they “will know it when they see it” if it’s time to switch quarterbacks, calling it a “legitimate discussion.”

“First off, just jump off. Jump off,” receiver Dez Bryant said. “Like we lost one game [after an 11-game winning streak]. We were 11-2. Like c’mon, man, this guy put us in this position, and you just get to talking crazy. You know, we have one bad game. It’s crazy.

“This is why everybody gets blocked out, and we’ve got to stick together, and we’ve got to focus on ourselves and not pay attention to the noise. Like the fake praise, we’ve got to treat it like fake praise.”

This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 12:39 AM with the headline "Dak Prescott blocks out the noise, rebounds with big victory."