FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has already said he expects to return to the starting lineup Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
And owner Jerry Jones says the Cowboys will give him every chance to play.
“He’s determined to from what I can know and see, I think he can get there,” Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan. We feel like physically he’s at a position where the risk/reward justifies him being out there.”
“It’s a question of him getting ready. And he’s going to be given every opportunity.”
He took one step closer closer when coach Mike McCarthy announced that Prescott, who missed the last five games with a fractured right thumb, has gotten the medical go ahead to return.
“Dak is going to be cleared here officially,” McCarthy said Monday. “The expectation is for Dak to be cleared today [Monday] or tomorrow [Tuesday]. Then, he’ll be returning to practice on Wednesday.”
Prescott underwent surgery on his right thumb Sept. 12 after fracturing it in the season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Cooper Rush led the Cowboys to four straight wins before last Sunday’s 26-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush, a career backup quarterback who played mistake free in the four wins, completed 18-of-38 passed for 181 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in the loss, punctuating the need for Prescott to return to the starting lineup.
McCarthy, however, wasn’t ready to declare Prescott the starter for this week.
He would like to keep the Lions guessing and spend time preparing for two quarterbacks.
He would also like to see a little more from Prescott, who has yet to participate in a full practice since the injury.
That process will start Tuesday and begin in earnest on Wednesday.
“The final threshold is always you have return to play, but then there’s the timing,” McCarthy said. “You’ve got to get the timing. That’s why if you look at the regimentation of how we’ve been bringing Dak back, obviously we’ve been following the medical process of it, but we’ve been trying to do as much throwing, particularly the routes on air, the individual route running, as much as we can.“
“I think we’ve checked the boxes. He’s got a [throwing] plan for tomorrow. Just a number of throws tomorrow, and then we’ll spin that into a full throwing load on Wednesday.”
And when Prescott does return McCarthy says nothing will change with the offense. But McCarthy wants him to play his game and make plays when needed and not worry about copying the conservative formula that made Rush successful.
“You love that about Dak, but there’s not a game plan that I haven’t been involved in as a quarterback is you want to run the plan and there are playmaking opportunities,” McCarthy said. “I just think Dak needs to play his game if he goes this week.”
