Jerry Jones assured Dak Prescott of his Dallas Cowboys future right after ankle injury
Before Dak Prescott even left AT&T Stadium for the hospital with a fractured ankle last October, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday said that he told the team’s star quarterback that his future with the organization was going to be secure.
The images of Prescott’s mangled ankle was gruesome, and he was carted off the field in tears to the encouraging cheers of well-wishing Cowboys fans at AT&T Stadium last Oct. 11. Prescott, who was injured while playing on a one-year deal, faced season-ending surgery and a cloud over his future. The uncertainty was palpable.
But not for Jones.
“Of course, immediately just bled for him when you saw his expressions and then of course immediately I went down to the dressing room and saw him there,” Jones said. “I knew for whatever I didn’t have any idea, frankly the true nature of the injury. But I knew to the extent that anything was going through his head about the future I wanted to really reassure him that our future is together in the locker room.”
Eventually, about five months later, the team did sign Prescott to a four-year, $160 million contract, but the hours after the injury — before the severity of it was even known — was a fraught time for the player and all within the organization.
“It’s not the kind of thing that’s fresh on your mind, but I thought it could be under the circumstances,” Jones said about the Prescott’s future at the time. “I felt like at least I wanted him to see me there and making sure this was not that type of situation.”
Jones said Prescott showed him enough as a player and leader, and that based on those traits and his accomplishments the quarterback’s future would be secure. Jones proved to be true to his word, although it wasn’t necessarily a rubber-stamp contract negotiation.
On March 8, roughly 21 weeks after the injury, the Cowboys came to agreement with Prescott on the historic deal that made him the second-richest player in NFL history at the time. Prescott got a signing bonus of $66 million, the highest in NFL history, and is taking home a record $75 million in 2021.
Making the deal perhaps even more remarkable is that it came after protracted contracts talks over three seasons, and it came while Prescott was still recovering from the compound fractured and dislocation of his right ankle, and the two surgeries required to fix it.
Jones didn’t view the situation as though he was taking a chance on an injured player, but rather a belief in someone who has always worked hard and exceeded expectations.
“Funny thing about Dak now: Ever since he’s put on that Cowboy star helmet, ever since he’s done that, I feel better every time he goes out there,” Jones said. “You’re seeing an evolving, and getting better and better and better. And I think we’ll have that as the years and months go by.”
It has proven to be the correct move for the Cowboys and Prescott, who has recovered from the injuries and has returned in 2021 playing best football of his career.
Through the first four weeks of the season, Prescott ranks second in completion percentage and touchdown passes and is seventh in quarterback rating for the 3-1 NFC-East leading Cowboys.
Sunday’s game will be played 364 days after the ankle injury, perhaps coincidentally, against the same opponent, the New York Giants (1-3), on the same field during the same week of their respective seasons.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 3:14 PM.
