Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott gives Cowboys hope for the future
Jason Witten had already departed the locker room when he realized Dak Prescott was behind him. The veteran tight end peeled back to escort his quarterback out of AT&T Stadium.
“He was very poised,” Witten had said a few minutes earlier. “We’ll get better and rally behind him. I thought he did a really good job. He’s been that way since he got here back in May. He’s confident. He’s a good communicator in the huddle.
“…We didn’t play as well as we need to, but I thought Dak did a good job in there, a really good job. He’s a tough kid, man. He really is.”
Prescott became the fourth rookie quarterback to start for the Dallas Cowboys in a season opener. He joined Troy Aikman and Quincy Carter with an 0-1 start to his career.
Only Roger Staubach won as a rookie.
Still, the Cowboys left encouraged by what they saw from Prescott in the 20-19 loss to the New York Giants.
“I was lifted by Dak Prescott’s play,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “We had high expectations, and we thought he met and exceeded those expectations. I do believe that there [would be] some limitations in what we were doing in the game plan, but I didn’t see it. I thought he played well.”
Prescott completed 25 of 45 passes for 227 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions and a 69.4 passer rating. He led the Cowboys inside the Giants 10-yard line on three drives, but only one ended in a touchdown.
“There were some things I want back,” Prescott said. “Some plays I want to redo, I guess you could say. But for the most part I felt like I prepared. The coaches did a good job, and the offense did well for the most part. We’ve just got to score touchdowns down there in the red zone.”
On their first three drives, the Cowboys settled for field goals. They went 70 yards in 15 plays and used up 8:25 on the clock before stalling at the New York 5. They followed with a 15-play, 62-yard drive that ate up 7:58 and ended at the New York 38. An 11-play, 53-yard drive that used 5:34 ended at the New York 7.
“The red-zone offense has to get better there and get through those sticky zones on the field and go down and score touchdowns instead of kicking field goals,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.
The Cowboys are 10-24 without Tony Romo since he became their full-time starter in 2006, including 1-11 last season. But the Cowboys left with better feelings Sunday than they did a year ago when Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Kellen Moore started.
“It frustrates you, but it’s encouraging,” receiver Cole Beasley said of the loss. “We’ve got the young kid in there, and everybody’s excited about him and wants to see what he can do. He did a heck of a job, man. He showed that if we just get open, he’s going to find us. That’s definitely a positive thing going forward.
“I talked to him after the game. I said, ‘Man, when we went 12-4 [in 2014], all of them were like this.’ They’re all going to be tough. None of them are going to be easy. He’s not down in the dumps or anything. Of course, he’s [mad] we lost, but he’s very confident, very poised. He never lost his cool the whole time, no matter what the situation and that’s what you want to see from a guy like that. That’s kind of rare from a young guy like that.”
Charean Williams: 817-390-7760, @NFLCharean
I was lifted by Dak Prescott’s play. We had high expectations, and we thought he met and exceeded those expectations. I do believe that there [would be] some limitations in what we were doing in the game plan, but I didn’t see it. I thought he played well. Jerry Jones
This story was originally published September 11, 2016 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott gives Cowboys hope for the future."