Dak Prescott, playing with injured hand, is defined by toughness and leadership

Dak Prescott’s numbers in the Dallas Cowboys’ 38-14 victory against Washington Redskins weren’t pretty.

He completed 11 of 22 passes for 102 yards. He had two touchdown passes of 8 and 13 yards to tight end Jason Witten and receiver Dez Bryant.

It was his fourth consecutive game with less than 200 yards passing, but it arguably his grittiest performance to date and possibly his most important.

The Cowboys entered the game riding a three-game losing streak and prompted questions about coach Jason Garrett’s job and whether Prescott was supposedly exposed by the absence of running back Ezekiel Elliott.

Prescott had eight turnovers and five interceptions in the past three games.

‘It was tough,” Prescott said of the past three weeks. “More frustrated over the play and the losses than anything outside, so that just comes it with it. It was frustrating. It was great to get a win tonight.”

He got the win on Thursday and did it despite suffering a hand injury in the second quarter on an option play that forced him into the locker room for X-rays.

He displayed toughness and leadership that continues have owner Jerry Jones convinced he is his team’s franchise quarterback for the present and future.

“Well, naturally, you would be concerned,” Jones said. “I knew quickly that it was not a fracture or something. But obviously, you could tell that it was very swollen. That’s the point. It actually looked like he started throwing better after it swelled up (laughs). But that’s him. He’s such a competitor, and his team knows it. He’s a leader out there.”

Prescott has never suffered a broken hand and he was worried at first, especially regarding the swelling.

But once the X-rays came back negative and they were able to get the swelling to subside, there was nothing keeping him from returning to the game.

“It’s good. Just initially, got hit on it, it bruised up and felt it swell a little bit at the time…it was on the option,” Prescott said. “I think I just put my hand on my stomach and his helmet hit it. It just swelled up. I was fine. We’ve got great trainers and doctors. They wrapped it up, fixed it up, and we were ready to go. I don’t know if I’ve ever broken my hand. I couldn’t grip initially because the swelling swelled up on me so bad. We wrapped it up, got the swelling down and I was fine.

“As I said, I was a little nervous at first with the grip. I went in and got the swelling down. I came out, and continued to keep the ball in my hand and keep the blood flowing.”

Backup Cooper Rush began to warm up, but never got in the game because Ryan Switzer returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown. Once the Cowboys offense was ready to go back on the field, Prescott was back in the lineup, but not before using a hand to tap Switzer on the helmet.

Asked if he thanked Switzer, Prescott said, “Well, he kind of gypped Coop (backup quarterback Cooper Rush). Coop didn't get his reps.”

Prescott got his and it wasn’t about the numbers. It was about playing mistake-free and making timely throws. The touchdown passes to Witten and Bryant was perfect throws.

“I thought Dak did a really good job making timely throws, down in the red area, the throw to Witt for a touchdown, the throw to Dez for a touchdown, he made some big plays in the game for us,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He did hurt his hand. He had to go in and get an X-ray. And if we didn’t have, I think it was the return by Switz, Cooper Rush would have gone into the ballgame at that point. But we got the return, Dak was able to come back out, he felt good enough where he could grip the ball, and he was able to play that last series of the first half. But you know he’s a tough guy and he plays the game the right way. He’s an outstanding leader, handled himself really well throughout the game.”

Prescott handled himself well during the three-game funk. He didn’t get down. He remained confident and focused on doing all he could to improve after the worst three-game stretch of any quarterback in Cowboys history.

"”t means everything,” Prescott said. "Roger sent me a text and told me about him getting booed. If that doesn’t show you this business right there, it is what it is. It was good to hear from him and Troy (Aikman”, the guys who have been through it. I was grateful.

"(Their message was) keep going. Keep putting your head forward. That’s the only thing really that you can do. The talk is going to be there good or bad, so I am thankful for both those guys.”

This story was originally published December 1, 2017 at 1:17 AM with the headline "Dak Prescott, playing with injured hand, is defined by toughness and leadership."