Dak Prescott is hoping to avoid surgery on his hamstring injury so he can return to play for the Dallas Cowboys this season, according to owner Jerry Jones.
Jones confirmed on his radio show that Prescott has a partial hamstring tear, also known as a partial avulsion, where the hamstring is partially torn off the bone.
A complete tear of the tendon requires surgery, which is what happened to former Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith two years ago, when he missed 13 games. In Prescott’s case, Jones said it may take a few weeks before doctors can determine whether surgery will be needed.
The injury occurred during last week’s 27-21 loss to Atlanta. Cooper Rush will start in Prescott’s place on Sunday against NFC East rival Philadelphia (6-2), as the Cowboys (3-5) try to stay in the playoff hunt after making the playoffs with 12-5 records each of the past three seasons.
“He’s got to have some weeks off of it before he can see if it really does require surgery,” Jones said on his radio show. “He doesn’t want surgery. He wants to be on the field and go for it. He’s weighing that. We’re weighing that.”
Later on Friday, Stephen Jones, Jerry’s son and the Cowboys’ executive vice president of personnel, announced that Prescott would be placed on injured reserve. This means Prescott will miss at least four games, but he could be out for longer, depending on how his recovery goes.
“Obviously a tough, tough situation, losing him for that period of time,” Stephen Jones said. “But we’re going to do what’s in the best interest of Dak and right now I don’t think anyone knows whether it’ll be four weeks, six weeks or the season.”
Cooper Rush was 4-1 as a starter two years ago when Prescott was out with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. He also won a game in 2021 when Prescott had a calf strain.
A new factor in replacing Prescott is the presence of Trey Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft by the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys last year after he lost the backup job, and he has been the third quarterback for Dallas since then.
Lance took most of the snaps in the preseason so that coach Mike McCarthy and his staff could evaluate him. Lance, who is 24, is on the final year of his rookie contract.
While McCarthy has indicated that Rush will remain the starter, Jerry Jones suggested on his radio show that there could be packages designed for Lance, who is the most mobile of the three quarterbacks.
“There’s a window for Trey Lance,” Jones said. “There’s packages that we can work on. Let me be clear, that’s not just to get Lance some play time. That’s to bring to the table some offense for us.”
