FRISCO, Texas – This historic start by Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush hasn’t changed his humbled demeanor.
Rush is 4-0 in his career as a starter and should he earn the victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, he becomes the 14th quarterback in league history to win his first five career starts. The last time this occurred was during the 2018-19 seasons when Kyle Allen did it for Carolina.
Rush, of course, is the first Cowboys’ quarterback to win his first four starts and could extend that streak.
“It doesn’t feel that different,” Rush said Thursday. “I mean, I’ve played well, but it’s a whole team thing. I mean (laughs) our defense, I’ve been fortunate as a starter that our defense only gives up one touchdown a game. That makes playing quarterback a lot easier. The QB win stat gets thrown out there a lot and everyone knows it gets inflated and all that stuff. You’ll reflect some day on it. It will be cool. But right now we’re just playing ball.”
The Cowboys starting quarterback is Dak Prescott, who resumed rehab work during Thursday’s practice. Prescott is out with a fractured right thumb and during Thursday’s media access period, he worked on the resistance cords while holding a football in his right hand.
Prescott must regain strength in his right hand, particularly in the thumb area, before the team officials feel good about using him in a NFL game.
Rush, meantime, continues as the starter for another week.
“Yeah every snap in practice and in games is huge,” Rush said. “To build that experience, you know, I still don’t have a lot of experience but I’ve been lucky, been fortunate that I played all right. So you’re learning constantly every play so you draw on all those snaps.”
Lamb misses practices says he’s fine
Starting wide receiver CeeDee Lamb missed practice with a groin injury. It’s not considered serious and Lamb worked with the rehab group during Thursday’s practice sessions.
“I’m fine. I’m good,” Lamb said. “I don’t want to scare nobody.”
When asked if his physical intake, measured on a GPS device, registered too high the previous day to prompt a shutdown for Thursday, Lamb smiled and said, “Facts. Very high.”
Tight end Jake Ferguson (knee) and cornerback Jourdan Lewis (groin) returned to practice in a limited fashion.
Tyler Biadasz’s growth continues
Cowboys starting center Tyler Biadasz has a major task in facing the Rams imposing front led by defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Biadasz’s first NFL game in 2020 came briefly against the Rams when he played two snaps. That seems a long-time ago for Biadasz who has impressed his coaches with his play this season.
“I think Tyler is doing an excellent job,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “Clearly his understanding and application of communication, as far as the calls, is a lot higher, it’s to be expected. His command and understanding is definitely where it needs to be. Just like anything, we’ve had a number of moving parts so his ability to communicate with more than one guard, particularly to his left that’s something we just got to continue to work on. He’s been very assertive in his declarations and adjustments.”
Biadasz has played with Connor McGovern, Jason Peters and Matt Farniok at left guard in addition to having Zack Martin and Farniok play beside him at right guard.
“The nice thing about Tyler is he takes a ton of pride of being the center here and making sure everyone is on the same page,” Martin said. “He’s put a ton of extra time in. I think he prides himself on making sure everyone is on the same page.”
The thermostat starts and ends with Lawrence
Recently, McCarthy described the defense as the thermostat for his team. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was in total agreement.
“Most definitely, day in and day out,” he said. “I feel like we do lift our team but also with that thermostat comes the offense being able to keep that energy up and play complimentary football that’s what it’s really about.”
When asked when the defense become the thermostat, Lawrence said with a straight face, “When they got me.”
Briefly
Linebacker/defensive end Micah Parsons said he plans on adding jerseys from Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and Aaron Donald to his man cave. “I know he’s almost out of this league and we just got to enjoy him while he’s here,” Parsons said of Donald. On Judge, Parsons said, “I just love to see people succeed and I don’t know nothing about Aaron Judge. I don’t know where he’s from. I just know he plays baseball and hits home runs.”
