Dallas Cowboys

Cooper Rush doesn’t ease Cowboys’ backup QB concerns in preseason finale

Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush is pressured by Houston Texans defensive tackle Kingsley Opara during the first half of Thursday night’s preseason finale at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Texans won 14-6 and Rush threw two interceptions.
Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush is pressured by Houston Texans defensive tackle Kingsley Opara during the first half of Thursday night’s preseason finale at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Texans won 14-6 and Rush threw two interceptions. AP Photo

This isn’t going to be easy, is it?

The Dallas Cowboysbackup quarterback situation remains an area of concern after another rough half and some change by Cooper Rush Thursday night against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.

Rush completed 14 of 25 passes for 83 yards and threw two more interceptions. If you’re keeping track, that’s four picks for Rush in a little more than four quarters over the final two preseason games.

However, Rush remained optimistic about the progress he’s made since his rookie season in 2017.

“Numbers-wise, obviously not as good,” Rush said. “But you put in the work, keep studying, keep communicating and making the right decisions and things, those numbers will come.”

Mike White fared a little better, completing 13 of 21 passes for 118 yards.

“Obviously, we didn’t have great rhythm all game long,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “There were a couple of things that I thought were good for both units. I thought Coop made a couple of good throws in the game. We drove the ball a little bit at times. A couple times he missed some throws.”

Rush’s first interception came after he was flushed out of the pocket and rolled to his right. But his pass was underthrown and the Texans’ defensive back Justin Reid almost scored a touchdown but stepped out of bounds during his return.

“He made a poor decision on the one the interception when he was moving to his right under duress. Again, some good in the game, some not so good in the game,” Garrett said. “Overall, we didn’t execute well enough offensively throughout the game.”

The second interception came on an underthrown deep ball in the final seconds of the first half.

Is Rush concerned about his status as Dak Prescott’s backup, a position Garrett stood by earlier this week?

“I don’t even worry about that. It’s not my job to worry about that,” Rush said. “It would be a waste of time on my part to think about all that stuff.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 12:00 PM.

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