Dallas Cowboys feeling good about Dak Prescott, hopeful he will miss as few as 3 games

The Dallas Cowboys got good news on quarterback Dak Prescott, following successful surgery to repair his fractured right thumb.

Per sources, Prescott’s timeline has been reduced from 6-to-8 weeks to 4-to-6 weeks.

But owner Jerry Jones is more optimistic than that.

He said on his radio show on 105.3 the Fan that the team is hopeful that Prescott, who suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 19-3 season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday night, will miss as few as three games.

The Cowboys won’t place Prescott on injured reserve, which would have sidelined him for at least four games.

“We want him to be in consideration for playing within the next four games, Jones said. “We feel better about it than we did Sunday night. We think he will be back out there throwing pretty quick. That’s not being optimistic. That’s us having good surgery.”

Prescott had a plate inserted into the thumb Monday to stabilize the joint.

A source confirmed the surgery showed that Prescott suffered an extra-articular fracture to his right thumb. This is a fracture that occurs above the wrist joint and doesn’t extend into the joint itself.

It allows for a faster recovery and an adjustment in the timeline, while renewing Jones hopes that he can save this from being a lost Cowboys season

“He’s very capable of coming past this injury and having a great season. A great season, I emphasize that,” Jones said.

Jones said the Cowboys will not add a veteran quarterback to the mix. They will go with Cooper Rush as the starter and Will Grier as the backup until Prescott returns.

“Those guys know the offense well, have a lot of reps in it, and consequently give us our best shot,” Jones said. “It’s unlikely you’ll have a veteran quarterback that could get back in here and be ready to play as well as those guys can play even if you thought you might have a talent advantage.”

If Prescott misses just three games, he will be on the field for the Oct. 9 at the Los Angeles Rams. But certainly, the Cowboys feel good about Prescott being ready for the Oct. 16 NFC East showdown at the Philadelphia Eagles.

Prescott is expected to miss Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals at AT&T Stadium, at the New York Giants on Sept. 26 and at home against the Washington Commanders on Oct. 2.

Jones said Prescott is historically a fast healer and his status will be determined how handles the next few weeks. But he said they have reason to be optimistic and hopeful.

“If we thought he wasn’t going to be ready to go until after four games we would have put him on IR,” Jones said. “We didn’t do that. We think he can come in and play so we don’t want to not have him out there practicing. We want him getting prepared and we will see how he handles this thing, how it heals, mainly his strength. How he grips the ball will determine what his status is.”

The Cowboys are 5-7 all-time without Prescott. They were 4-7 in 2020 when he missed 11 games.

But they were 1-0 last season when Rush engineered a comeback victory against the Minnesota Vikings in his only career start.

This will be Prescott’s fourth surgery since 2020 when underwent two surgeries to repair a fractured right ankle. He also had minor shoulder surgery January.

Prescott has missed a total of 12 games since 2020 after starting 69 straight games to open his career.

But Jones pushed back on the notion that Prescott, who was given a four-year $160 million deal before last season, has become injury-prone.

“I do not think that’s the case,” Jones said. “I’ve always thought one of his strengths was his durability. He’s strong, big, thick. All of that weighs into it. I’m not concerned.”