Jerry Jones: No scenario Cooper Rush is Dallas Cowboys QB1 over healthy Dak Prescott
Imagine Jerry Jones suddenly being the voice of reason while Dallas Cowboys fans and media pundits are losing their their minds salivating at the thought of a possible quarterback controversy between backup Cooper Rush and injured starter Dak Prescott.
We have reached that point.
First things, first.
Jones said on his radio show on Tuesday that Prescott’s return from a fractured thumb is still at least a week away
Prescott, who had the stitches removed from the surgically repaired right thumb last Monday, still can’t grip a football.
“No, not well enough to play,” Jones said.
Prescott was set to meet with his doctors on Tuesday.
And considering that coach Mike McCarthy said Prescott would need a full week of practice before playing again, Rush will make his fourth consecutive start for the Cowboys Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams with the hopes of going 4-0 this season and running his career record to 5-0 as a starting quarterback.
But Prescott is getting better and return is coming, possibly for the Oct. 16 showdown at the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Well, I know that it’s better, and I know that he’s going to go out there every day and make progress toward being able to grip the ball. I don’t know that you could ask for better news technically, physically in how it’s responding, how it’s healing so to speak,” Jones said. “And, so, all of those things are on go, and I don’t know that you could make any more progress. There’s some things here about healing that I often say only the man upstairs knows how that works. But he’ll have a big week and he’ll be hard on himself getting ready to go.”
And whenever Prescott is ready to go, he will return to the lineup at the team’s starting quarterback.
Just two weeks after sowing the seeds of a controversy himself by openly dreaming of having quarterback dilemma between Rush and Prescott, based on the hopes of Rush continuing to win, Jones is now trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
Jones said there is no scenario where Cowboys would stick with Cooper Rush over a healthy Prescott.
“No. No. As I see it right today,” Jones said.
Of course Jones’ words have no will bring no relief to the hysteria that is shaping up in Dallas with fans, media and outside pundits over a quarterback controversy.
My grandma had a word for people like you: peace breakers.
People who love to stir up stuff when nothing is there.
The Cowboys are in a state of euphoria, literally out their minds of over a glorious out of body experience.
Not in anyone’s wildest dreams did they believe what has transpired over the last month would happen.
Most thought the season was over after one game, following a horrible loss to the Tampa Buccaneers in the season opener and fractured right thumb for Prescott, which was initially expected to sideline him for 6-8 weeks.
History has shown us that when the starting quarterback it out that long team’s generally have no hope, especially in Dallas.
And considering how bad the Cowboys played with Prescott against Tampa Bay and the continued questions at receiver and the offensive line, the idea of Rush, a career backup with one start on his resume, leading them to one victory, let one three straight, was a fantasy island with Rush and his family as the only occupants.
Yet, instead of relishing good fortune of having Rush salvage the season and keeping the team in thick of the playoff race, the peace breakers have showed up in full force, not only wondering aloud if the Cowboys should bench their franchise quarterback, who is in the second year of a 4-year, $160 million deal, but openly campaigning for it.
Cowboys defensive end defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has a message for the peace breakers.
“I say, ‘Calm down.’ I say, ‘Calm down.’ I know you’re happy for the football team but also understand this is still a business,” Lawrence said of the idea of Rush starting over Prescott. “So don’t get it twisted.”
It’s about the money but it’s also about the team’s play.
Rush has played well, surprisingly well _ beyond the team’s expectations well, per Jerry Jones.
But his best is still a few rungs below Prescott.
And the Cowboys know their only chance of reaching their full potential, now the Rush has kept them alive, is with Prescott as QB1, as a team and most especially as an offense.
The Cowboys have been playoff contenders every year a healthy Prescott has been on the field. His career record as a starter is 53-32.
That includes a 13-3 record and a 10-game winning streak of his own as a rookie in 2016 when he supplanted an injured Tony Romo as well as last season’s 12-5 when he passed for 4,4,49 yards and broke Romo’s season-season record for touchdown passes with 37.
Prescott has consistently trended among the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL and currently ranks sixth all-time in quarterback rating at 98.2
As well as Rush has played, passing for 737 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in three starts, the Cowboys offense remains limited. He ranks 11th in quarterback rating but 27th in completion percentage.
The Cowboys rank 30th in the league in third-down conversion rate. They are only averaging 22.6 points per game in his three starts.
And there so some throws he can’t make and some pass rush situations he can’t escape due to his limited mobility.
Rush has more than made up for some of his shortcomings with his accuracy, anticipation and decisiveness.
Coach Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys are winning because of Rush, not in spite of him.
“He’s not a ‘game manager,” McCarthy said. “There is a mode of calling plays where you can play not to lose. vs. playing to win. I think clearly, if you look at the way we’ve lined up...we clearly have not taken the ball out of Cooper Rush’s hands.”
And they won’t until Prescott is healthy again.
It’s a great situation, the best of both worlds.
It gives the Cowboys best chance of potentially realizing their Super Bowl dreams after 27 years of disappointment since their last title in 1995.
Don’t let the peace breakers ruin a good thing with a made up controversy that could tear the team apart.
This story was originally published October 4, 2022 at 10:26 AM.
