All eyes on Dak Prescott while Cowboys search for another backup

The Dallas Cowboys have gone from desperate to preaching patience regarding their backup quarterback situation after the loss of Kellen Moore to a fractured right fibula.

The Cowboys expressed interest in free agent Nick Foles but made no formal offer before he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, owner Jerry Jones said.

The Cowboys have also discussed internally the possibility of trading for Cleveland Browns backup Josh McCown to give the team a veteran behind Tony Romo.

But the situation remains in limbo. Jones said there is no urgency to fill the void, and he prefers to use this time to evaluate rookie fourth-round pick Dak Prescott and second-year player Jameill Showers. However, neither Prescott nor Showers has thrown a pass in an NFL game.

“That’s right. That is really a good way to say it,” Jones said. “We really have what we think is an opportunity. We have seen enough and it makes sense.

“We don’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, as urgent as it might look. We don’t know that we are void on campus with our backup quarterback at all. None of us know how this would work. We’re not in that big a hurry.”

Even though things didn’t happen as the Cowboys wanted last year when they traded for Matt Cassel after the start of the season, Jones said he will lean on his past success of picking up veteran backup quarterbacks late in camp or after the start of the season.

Jones also didn’t rule out Moore, who underwent surgery Wednesday, as a a backup after three to four months of rehab.

“You just play this thing and see what happens around the league, and we’ll see where we are,” Jones said. “We should be able to take a real veteran who has enough NFL experience to come in here and catch on pretty quick, but at the same time to be getting Dak and Showers their reps.

“That backup quarterback has to be the right situation. We don’t want one that we’re having to give so [many] reps too that we don’t get reps with Dak and Showers. We’ve got to look at that. The best thing to do right now is to be pretty deliberate, to not be in a big hurry and let some more things play out around the league.”

Jones reiterated that the team didn’t make a big push for Foles, citing that they passed on him before camp when he was cut by the Los Angeles Rams. He also referred back to his camp-opening news conference when he said the team knew all about Foles and preferred Moore.

Foles knew as much so it wasn’t a shock to Jones that he chose the Chiefs, reuniting him with coach Andy Reid from their days with the Philadelphia Eagles.

“You could have gotten him pretty cheap from the Rams if you had really been interested,” Jones said. “Obviously we want to do everything and be as resourceful as we can on what you have to pay as to what you get. When you usually get a bargain, it’s just that.”

Prescott, who started camp as a project for the future, hopes to make the most of his opportunity to earn the backup job.

With Romo sitting out of practice due to a scheduled rest day, a wide-eyed, but calm, Prescott walked in the huddle with tight end Jason Witten, receiver Dez Bryant and the starters Thursday.

As much as he said he wanted to approach it like just another day, he couldn’t help but be wowed by the moment.

“I guess it’s there. It’s just natural. It’s going to make you perform better and go out there and play better,” Prescott said. “I think that pressure is going to help me, make me step up. It was good for me to come in and look [them] in the eyes in the huddle and get that confidence going.”

Prescott was admittedly excited, but it didn’t show in his demeanor.

“A lot of times in my experience young players when they get in these situations they panic, overreact, make quick decisions,” Witten said. “For him, it seems like he is pretty calm. He goes with it. Everybody is on the same page.

“It’s tough to come in that huddle and call it and go to the line of scrimmage and communicate all the way through. He has done a good job. He did a good job today in some situations where we were on the ball. That’s not easy.”

Prescott still has a long way to go and a lot developing to do to learn the offense and the NFL game after playing in a limited zone-read scheme at Mississippi State. There was a lot of good and bad from his practice Thursday. He had an interception in 7-on-7 drills and nearly threw another during the two-minute drill that was dropped by cornerback Morris Claiborne.

Showers goes through his reads quicker and gets the ball off faster. But the Cowboys believe in Prescott’s upside and development. They spent a lot of time with him before the draft and loved his poise and intangibles as a leader.

“He’s got great physical skills that he’s honing in on certain things that he needs to improve on,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “But the one thing that’s been very natural to him is being a leader in that huddle and the leader of that group that’s on the field. You really can’t coach that. You can try to teach some of the things you’ve got to do, but that’s kind of an innate thing. He’s a natural that way.

“You see the way he plays, a very quiet demeanor while he’s playing, he doesn’t look like he gets too overly excited. He stays in that moment, looks very much controlled, so those are good traits.”

Prescott knows the Cowboys are still looking at bringing in a veteran quarterback. But that’s out of his control. His focus from Day 1 was to come to practice and work toward earning a starting job. That remains the same.

The only thing that has changed is his increased reps in practice with the starters and a chance to earn the No. 2 job.

“I’m just here to make myself better,” Prescott said. “But I’m going to come and get better every day and show these guys exactly what I’ve got. I’m trying to learn this playbook as if I’m going to be the starter one day. That is my mindset going into each and every practice. Nothing has changed because of circumstances.”

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "All eyes on Dak Prescott while Cowboys search for another backup."