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The wait is over: Dak Prescott has been medically cleared to play ahead of Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions, head coach Mike McCarthy announced. Prescott is expected to throw 40-50 passes at practice Wednesday and participate in a mock game, per McCarthy.
Prescott and the Cowboys had been teasing the quarterback’s return from a fractured thumb for more than a month. Now, all signs finally point toward the Pro Bowler reclaiming his spot under center. Prescott told reporters earlier in the week that he planned to suit up in Dallas’ Week 7 matchup with the Lions, and cited his healing process as to why he wasn’t ready earlier, something he had previously suggested.
“I had plans,” Prescott said on Sunday. “The bone didn’t have the same plans. That was me being eager. That was nothing different than what the doctor and trainers had planned. The plan is to go next week.”
On Monday, McCarthy went out of his way to credit backup Cooper Rush’s 4-1 record in Prescott’s place.
“I think when you look at Cooper’s performance, you look at the wins,” McCarthy said. It’s the most difficult position in our game, so he kept us in full gameplans, which is where you want to be with your backup quarterback. When you play like that, your offense has the chance to grow. I think not only winning games, but conceptually staying on course with what your work on training camp, he gave us that opportunity and he should be recognized for that.”
This comes a week after Prescott officially logged two limited practices in the lead-up to Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. It’s unclear how much throwing the QB did while on the field last week, however. Should he return against the Lions, he would’ve missed a total of five games (or roughly six weeks) after fracturing his thumb in Dallas’ season-opening loss to the Buccaneers.
Both Prescott and team brass, including owner Jerry Jones and president Stephen Jones, have been publicly hinting that the QB could return earlier than the initial six- to eight-week rehabilitation timeline. Still, Rush has been under center for the Cowboys’ past five matchups, going 4-1 during that span. After controlling the ball with zero interceptions in his first four emergency starts, the veteran reserve threw three picks in the Cowboys’ Sunday night loss.
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