Why Troy Aikman says Dallas Cowboys may consider staying with Cooper Rush as QB1

Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman is as big a Dak Prescott fan as there is.

He was one of the first people who championed sticking with Prescott as a rookie over veteran Tony Romo, the team’s all-time leading passer, when he led the Cowboys on a 10-game win streak en route to a 13-3 record in 2016.

And Aikman implored the Cowboys to sign Prescott to a long-term contract extension well before he signed a four-year, $160 million deal before last season.

Aikman still believes Prescott is the future of the franchise.

But he says the team may have a decision to make at quarterback if backup Cooper Rush, who has won four straight games in place of the injured Prescott in 2022, extends the win streak to five with a victory at the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles (5-0) on Sunday.

“If the (Cowboys win Sunday), you start asking the question, ‘Do we put Dak back in?’ Considering what they’ve been able to do and how they’ve been able to win games with Cooper Rush, I think that becomes a real question the organization has to answer,” Aikman said on his radio show on 1310-AM The Ticket.

Aikman said he was not only basing his perspective on the comments of owner Jerry Jones, who said he would welcome a quarterback controversy because it would mean Rush was winning games, but also his own experience with a similar situation.

The year before Aikman led the Cowboys to the first of three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s his first trip to the playoffs was marred by controversy. In 1991, backup Steve Beuerlein replaced an injured Aikman in Week 13 against the Washington Commanders.

Beuerlein threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Michael Irvin, as the Cowboys held on for a 24–21 victory, defeating an 11–0 Washington team.

Beuerlein led the Cowboys to four straight wins to end the season, leading the Cowboys to an 11–5 record, their best since the 1983 season under Tom Landry.

Even though Aikman was healthy enough to start in the playoffs, coach Jimmy Johnson stuck with the hot hand in Beuerlein.

The Cowboys beat the Chicago Bears in the playoff opener. But lost to the Detroit Lions the next week when Aikman came on to replace Beuerlein.

“I wasn’t happy about it,” Aikman said. “I don’t think there were questions within the organization as far as who was the future for the franchise. But those become hard questions and it’s the only position it probably happens at … If they’re winning and they win a big road game against Philadelphia, I could see where there is some pause and you say, ‘Well, how exactly do we handle this?’ And I don’t know. In no way, I can see it now, the headlines, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Dak is the quarterback of this franchise. I love the guy. And they’re better with Dak at quarterback, but the team is playing good football right now.”

Prescott is expected to be healthy enough return for the Oct. 23 game against the Detroit Lions.