Featured Columnist IVNovember 12, 2024
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Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones had something of a positive outlook regarding Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury even though the quarterback will undergo season-ending surgery Wednesday.
“It’s a more common injury in hockey, and he’s got doctors that are very familiar with how to repair that,” Jones said Tuesday during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas (h/t ESPN’s Todd Archer). “And his prognosis is wonderful. It just means that we’re not going to have him the rest of the year.”
Archer reported that Prescott saw a specialist Monday before deciding on surgery with the 2025 campaign surely in mind.
He may not even have been available for the rest of the season if he avoided surgery, as Archer cited sources who said it would have been a six-to-eight week recovery period. The surgery means he is facing a three-month recovery period.
Dallas is 3-6 with eight games remaining and is largely playing out the string on the season at this point. Having Prescott avoid surgery just for the outside possibility of returning for late-December games that will likely be meaningless for the Cowboys wouldn’t have made much sense.
Yet this is still another setback for a quarterback who has experienced plenty of them in recent years.
He was limited to just five games in 2020 because of a dislocation and compound fracture of his right ankle. He also missed five games in 2022 due to a broken right thumb and underwent surgery on his shoulder ahead of the 2023 campaign.
Things were trending in the right direction for Prescott coming into the 2024 season, as he just led the league with 36 touchdown passes to just nine interceptions in 2023. He also remained healthy and appeared in all 17 games while throwing for 4,516 yards for a Cowboys team that went 12-5 and won the NFC East.
Now, Dallas is in third place in the division and well behind the 7-2 Philadelphia Eagles and 7-3 Washington Commanders.
Prescott’s injury all but eliminates any chances at a late charge, although Jones’ optimism seems to indicate the expectation is the starter will be ready to return and lead an offense that will be looking to bounce back in 2025.
