FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has a partial avulsion of his right hamstring, meaning part of the tendon has pulled away from the bone, it was confirmed Wednesday a source.
Prescott has not yet been placed on injured reserve. If he is placed on IR, he would miss at least four games, keeping him sidelined at least until Dec. 9 against the visiting Cincinnati Bengals if such a decision were made this week. But two sources said Prescott would likely need a recovery period longer than four weeks.
NFL Network first reported the nature of Prescott’s injury.
Prescott was injured after a 5-yard scramble late in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. On the next play, cameras caught him grimacing as he threw a wobbly 10-yard pass to Jalen Brooks. After the match, he said he had never felt this feeling before.
“I felt it when I got up after the race. I can’t even say I felt it while running,” Prescott said. “The tackle, maybe something about the tackle. Yeah, I don’t know. But when I stood up, I felt something, actually. I didn’t think it was much. We fatigue. It’s a physical game. A lot Sometimes you feel different things and they kind of go away.
Prescott had an MRI on Monday, and a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter at the time that the quarterback would be out for several weeks.
In 2022, Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith suffered a complete hamstring avulsion during a training camp practice that required surgery. He missed the first 13 games of this season.
The Cowboys will start Cooper Rush at quarterback in Prescott’s absence. Rush is 5-1 as Prescott’s backup, including a 4-1 run in 2022 after Prescott broke his right thumb in the season opener. Rush has nine touchdown throws, six interceptions and 1,786 passing yards in 30 appearances.
Trey Lance will serve as the backup.
“Cooper has been great preparing Dak to play, and now Dak, they’re going to reverse roles,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said. “[Rush’s] the temperament is excellent. I would say he’s as well-rounded as an individual, especially a quarterback, that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. Cerebral. Clever. It gives you the flexibility to continue playing. I think that’s what you want in all your quarterbacks. You don’t want to get to the point where you have to change a bunch of things offensively because of who’s behind center. »
