‘Be a brother.’ Dak Prescott offers take on troubled Dallas Cowboys CB Kelvin Joseph
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott opened the offseason as healthy as he has been in three years physically and mentally.
His mind is focused solely on football and getting better.
And he is not going to let the controversies and off-field issues of the Cowboys distract him and his teammates.
That is his approach toward cornerback Kelvin Joseph, who has joined the Cowboys for voluntary workouts despite his connection to a drive-by murder in Dallas last month.
Dallas police charged two men, Aries Jones, 28, and Tivione English, 21, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in connection with the killing of Cameron Ray. The arrests came the day after Joseph met with Dallas police on April 15, a month after the shooting.
Joseph admits to being a passenger in the vehicle but said he was unarmed and he was not the shooter.
However, under Texas law, an individual can face charges for being a passenger in the vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting.The investigation is still ongoing, as are the inquiries by the Cowboys and the NFL.
The case is being reviewed under the league’s personal conduct policy, and he could be suspended even if he never faces charges.
Prescott said told reporters at the Children’s Cancer Gala, where he was named an honorary co-chair with Troy Aikman, replacing Roger Staubach, that he’ll support Joseph as much as possible but defer to the proper authorities.
“He’s been around,” Prescott said. “He’s been in the building. A situation like that, none of us can put ourselves in his shoes or know what to do honestly.
“You let the people that get paid to do that, handle those things. And best we can do, I can do, is be a brother and be a teammate to him.”
Prescott is focused on being the best player he can be.
He held out the offseason program in 2020 in a contract holdout. He also battled depression during the pandemic and suffered the loss of his brother, Jace, to suicide.
In 2021, Prescott spent the entire offseason rehabbing from a fractured leg that required two surgeries.
He currently has no health issues.
And it feels good.
“It’s exciting,” Prescott said. “It’s completely different. A year ago, you’re excited because you’re back on your leg, you’re moving it for the first time. From one week to the next you get to do two jumps to three jumps to jog to sprints you’re excited and you feel that progress. Now, I get on the field and I don’t even think about my leg. It goes from getting that leg better to it’s not even a thought in my head.”
“I’m not rehabbing one thing. I’m working on my whole body,” he said. “It’s about improving on the person and player I was before the injury now and being the best player I can be for this organization.”
