Jason Garrett: Cowboys are thinking through dress rehearsal plans for Dak Prescott
A rash of injuries forced the Dallas Cowboys to practice without pads on Tuesday for the second straight day.
But more important, the absences of center Travis Frederick and guard Zack Martin have the team possibly re-thinking its plans for the dress rehearsal for the season in Sunday’s third preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Martin is out until the season opener with a knee injury.
And Frederick, who is still seeking second and third opinions regarding recurring stingers in his neck, is out at least until then.
Earlier Tuesday, owner Jerry Jones offered up the trial balloon of possibly sitting quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott until the Sept. 9 season opener because of the absences of Martin and Frederick. But he said that coach Jason Garrett had the final call.
Garrett didn’t run from the suggestion. And if Prescott sits on offense, look for left tackle Tyron Smith to sit as well.
Garrett said those are among the discussions the team will have this week. None of the starters will play in the preseason finale at the Houston Texans on Aug. 30.
“You have to get your team ready to play in the opening game when it counts for real,” Garrett said. “You have to evaluate your team over the course of four preseason games. Those are all the different things you factor into it, as well as putting them out there and putting them in a situation where you could get them hurt. We’ll have those discussions as the week goes on and try to do what’s best for our team going forward.”
Prescott played in just two preseason games last season, completing 18 of 22 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. So far in 2018, he has completed 13 of 18 passes for 125 and two touchdowns, so just four fewer passes.
The Cowboys have always planned to be careful with Elliott. He has sat out the first two preseason games as the team takes a minimalist approach with him. The question is whether they seen enough from Prescott, who is playing with a revamped receiver corps.
“He has done a nice job,” Garrett said. “He played the one series against San Francisco. He played three series against Cincinnati. It’s been good work for him. He seems comfortable and confident out here. He moved the ball in those four drives with the ones. We scored two touchdowns and kicked a field goal. He has been productive.”
Garrett says having enough reps aren’t an issue if they did sit Prescott the final two preseason games, thanks to the 29 plays the first team offense had in a 21-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last Saturday. He said they are already ahead of where they normally would be in the past.
“What’s been positive is everybody played in the first game,” Garrett said. “The offensive guys played 29 snaps in the second game. That’s usually for the third game. We had 13 snaps going into the third drive. And we had a 16-play drive. That’s a positive from a rep standpoint. They have gotten good work up to this point, more than they have had in the past. Now we just factor into what we think is best this week.”
Clarence E. Hill Jr. :@clarencehilljr
This story was originally published August 21, 2018 at 9:05 PM.