Dallas Cowboys taking step back with QB Dak Prescott. He‘s out at least another week
When quarterback Dak Prescott was initially sidelined last Wednesday by a strained muscle in his right shoulder, the hope was that he might be able to resume throwing after taking a few days off.
Tuesday was the target day for re-evaluation, and the Cowboys have now changed their tune with coach Mike McCarthy saying they are taking a step back with Prescott.
He will not be throwing on Tuesday and he will not play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night in Canton, Ohio.
McCarthy said the team still feels good about Prescott’s recovery and there has been no setback.
“We’re just being more conservative with the timeline,” McCarthy said. “After research and looking at it we just don’t want this to turn into something big. So he’s doing everything that he possibly can but we’re just being a little bit more conservative with rehab.”
The team is now looking at Prescott possibly trying to throw next week, said McCarthy, who added that they would take a different approach if this was the regular season.
But with the extra preseason game and still having five weeks before the Sept. 9 season opener against the Tampa Buccaneers, McCarthy said the Cowboys are erring on the side of caution.
He said Prescott will be on reduced work load and pitch count when he does return.
“I’m sure there will be some kind of pitch count when we talk about the throwing,” McCarthy said. “I think that’s normal when you don’t throw, you’re always working up to a certain number. But he’s still doing all of the running, doing all the walk-through reps, so he’s still getting the work that he needs, particularly in the footwork and the time clocks and things like that. We’re just cutting out the throwing right now.”
Prescott blames the injury partly on throwing to much leading up to camp after missing the final 11 games of last season with a fractured ankle. He also said he didn’t stretch enough before practice one day when he initially suffered the injury.
No one is concerned about Prescott not being ready for the start of the season. The team would like to get him some reps with the starters before then, and they are targeting the third exhibition game, and first home game of the preseason slate, against the Houston Texans at AT&T Stadium on Aug. 21 to do that.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 12:50 PM.
