What special traits make Cooper Rush capable and ready to start at QB for Dak Prescott?
Despite playing for the Dallas Cowboys for seven seasons, Cooper Rush is not a player who commands attention.
He’s not one to give quotable one-liners to the media (heck, that’s even if he talks to the media outside of the occasional training camp availability).
He’s always seen, but he’s rarely heard.
Rush comfortably sits in the shadows, preparing for when starting quarterback Dak Prescott goes down with an injury.
Rush did it for the first time in 2021 when he stepped in for an injured Prescott for a Sunday night matchup in Minnesota against the Vikings. He threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning scoring pass to Amari Cooper with 51 seconds left to give Dallas a 20-16 win.
One year later, he was called upon again when Prescott fractured the thumb on his throwing hand. Rush rattled off four wins in five games to keep Dallas’ season afloat. In that stretch, he never threw for more than 235 yards or two touchdowns, but he had limited mistakes. His calm personality allowed Dallas to operate within its identity until Prescott was able to return.
When Prescott was ready to come back, back into the shadows Rush went.
Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer often praises Rush’s ability to see the field from the sideline and appreciates the advice he gives Prescott throughout games. His experience, while limited in the NFL, is something he continued to use despite only getting into 30 games over seven seasons.
Rush is back in the spotlight as the Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
On Thursday afternoon, he walked to the podium and addressed the media. It’s the same place he stood for five games in 2022. This time, however, he could be around longer as Prescott recovers from his torn hamstring, injured in the Nov. 3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’m older, seen more, I’ve done more,” Rush said about this opportunity. “Gotten better as a player, I think, over the years. So it’s exciting … I’ve gotten better physically as a player, I think. Just understand more football. You play more football and you get better and better each year.”
Having a proven, reliable backup quarterback is a luxury in the NFL. It was part of why owner and general manager Jerry Jones traded a fourth-round pick to acquire Trey Lance in August 2023. Despite others in the room gunning for his spot and a potential starting opportunity elsewhere following the 2022 season, Rush decided to stay in Dallas.
“It’s a great room,” he said. “It’s a great spot, a great place. We’ve been good for a while, a lot of great coaches, a great offensive system. It’s a place I know and I’m comfortable with. It’s a good spot.”
Consistency and being comfortable continue to strike as themes when Rush is brought up. By others, he’s often described as having a calm, even-keeled personality that translates into his on-field presence. He won’t try to do too much, but he will also make sure he isn’t doing too little. It’s an approach that has his fellow offensive weapons excited about the potential still left in the season with Rush at the helm.
“He knows what it takes to win,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “He knows he has what it takes to win. That’s half the battle. The rest, you’ve just got to go out there and do it. Talk is cheap.”
While Rush was at the podium on Thursday, tight end Jake Ferguson poked fun at his bright red hair and beard as he walked by and yelled, “If you see a quick flash of red on Sunday, don’t be afraid. It’s just No. 10.” Rush looked down with a smirk with that red starting to flush over his face as well.
He’s not a guy for the spotlight, and he won’t try to be now that he has a substantial amount of playing time ahead of him. For Cooper Rush, it’s just about being Cooper Rush.
“You play a ton of ball in college, it’s stuff you’ve been doing your whole life,” he said. “Trust who you are and the system is the system. You do what you’re supposed to do, you do what you’re coached to do.”
If anything, Rush said he has had to learn to be more vocal when his time has come, differing from his quiet personality.
“I think it helps at quarterback,” Rush said. “Calm, cool, collected, good decision-making. It’s kind of what QBs have to do. You have to stay level, because you are making a million decisions every play. I think that helps a little bit.”
That mentality has translated into Rush taking his 2024 opportunity and making it a step-by-step process.
In 30 career games, he has completed 165 of 275 passes for 1,786 yards and nine touchdowns.
With the Cowboys on a three-game losing streak, injuries to key players on offense and defense and their playoff chances faltering, the season hangs by a thread. But Rush is only focused on the task at hand – beginning with his week 10 challenge against the Eagles.
“We’re just trying to beat Philly,” he said. “That’s kind of our approach this week, gotta take them one at a time. It’s a cliché but it works. That’s kind of the goal, and you’re really just taking it practice-by-practice, game-by-game and we’ll see what happens.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2024 at 4:00 AM.
