Dak Prescott has earned the hype, but Cowboys’ brass tapping brakes

Jerry Jones managed to refrain from saying anything over the top about Dak Prescott on Friday night.

Sure, the Dallas Cowboys owner liked what he saw from Prescott for the second consecutive preseason game, a 41-14 victory over Miami, but he wouldn’t anoint him as Tony Romo’s backup.

Executive vice president Stephen Jones toed the line, too, saying the evaluation process is more than just games.

“It’s the full body of work,” Stephen Jones said. “Not just two preseason games. Minicamps. It’s the practices. It’s everything.”

Well, Prescott seems to have done well in “everything” up to this point. When projected backup Kellen Moore went down Aug. 2 with a broken right fibula, the Cowboys were searching the market for a veteran quarterback option.

But the best free-agent option, Nick Foles, signed with Kansas City, and Cleveland’s asking price on Josh McCown proved to be too steep at the time.

So the Cowboys went down the road of seeing what they had internally, namely Prescott. And Prescott performed well in practices, particularly when he got first-team reps when Romo rested, and has carried that into live action.

Even though they’re playing coy publicly, the Cowboys have to be beyond pleased with the promising signs shown by Prescott.

What more could they want to see after Prescott posted a perfect passer rating against the Dolphins on Friday?

“That’s hard to say,” Stephen Jones said. “It’s preseason. It speaks for itself. So far he’s done a really nice job leading the team. I think he is being productive. His production speaks for itself.

“It’s still preseason. We will have to continue to evaluate his progress.”

In two games, the fourth-round pick out of Mississippi State has gone 22-of-27 passing for 338 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. On Friday, he flashed his athleticism by rushing for two touchdowns, including a 20-yard scramble.

For his part, Prescott has maintained a level head and continues to say all the right things. Prescott called the decision of whether he should be the backup “something for [the Cowboys] to decide.”

But Prescott made it clear that it isn’t as easy as he has made it look so far.

“I don’t think ‘easy’ is the word,” Prescott said. “It’s the work I put in through the week. I’ve got great veterans, great coaches and that puts me in a great position to be successful on the field. I’m thankful for that, but a lot of hard work goes in for that.”

The work Prescott has done to date hasn’t gone unnoticed. Even though the executives are tapping the brakes and Prescott isn’t going to promote himself, his teammates are among his biggest cheerleaders.

Dez Bryant raved about Prescott after the game, as the two connected on a 28-yard touchdown pass.

Fellow receiver Brice Butler offered similar praise for Prescott, who hit Butler deep for a 58-yard completion to the 1, and went back to him for the touchdown to cap the drive.

“Dak is a good player,” Butler said. “When Kellen went down, he just stepped up. He didn’t blink an eye. It was just like, ‘All right, it’s my time to go to work.’ And last week he obviously played well and today he did the same thing.

“Dak is going to be a player. Dak is going to be a player.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2016 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Dak Prescott has earned the hype, but Cowboys’ brass tapping brakes."