Dak Prescott says shoulder is fine and Dallas Cowboys will be too, despite WR losses
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott made an appearance at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux in Irving where he received a $20,000 gift for his Faith, Fight Finish foundation from the restaurant.
He initially only wanted to talk about the gift to his charitable foundation and his off-field endeavors.
But he understood he had to address some concerns regarding the Cowboys’ offseason and his health.
Prescott said he is “fine, completely fine” after undergoing a cleanup surgery on his left shoulder in February.
He can do everything and has no limitations. He is throwing a couple of times a week and that will increase this spring, he said.
But he is looking forward to a normal offseason for the first time in three seasons. He held out in 2020 in a contract dispute and spent last spring rehabbing from a fractured ankle.
And that was before he suffered a strained right shoulder in training camp and calf injury that caused him to miss a game during the season, prompting Prescott to decline an invite to the Pro Bowl so he could rest.
“Following the season, I am looking forward to having that, a normal offseason to focus on every aspect of my game and not have to worry about rehabbing an injury,” Prescott said.
Prescott is also not worried about the team’s slow start to free agency where the losses of receivers Amari Cooper (to Cleveland in a trade) and Cedrick Wilson (to Miami as a free agent) and defensive end Randy Gregory (to Denver as a free agent) have decreased the roster’s talent.
But he said it’s too early make make that determination and he believes the team will be fine when it’s all said and done.
His focus is on the guys in the locker room.
“Things happen and things change,” Prescott said. “I think it will be to that standard here soon. Things aren’t done. Free agency isn’t done. The draft is not done. A lot of the roster is yet to come.
“I will handle things I can control. Handle the guys that are in the locker room, making sure we are growing and starting our brotherhood and our culture. Just progressing to get where we want to be.”
And while lamenting the losses of Cooper and Wilson on an offense that finished No. 1 in the league in 2021 in yards and points, Prescott said he was excited that receiver Michael Gallup cashed in with a five-year, $62.5 million contract.
He is also said that CeeDee Lamb is more than capable of replacing Cooper as the No. 1 receiver.
“There is no doubt he is,” Prescott said. “That is part of that move. You look at a guy like CeeDee and what he has done in his first two years, it’s exciting. It’s exciting to know it’s only the beginning. He had only scratched the surface for him to be the main guy. I know he is going to be ready for it. It’s going to be exciting.”
Lamb, a 2020 first-round pick out of Oklahoma, led the Cowboys with 79 catches for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns in 2021.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 7:36 PM.
