Jerry Jones says Dak Prescott will be the Cowboys’ starting quarterback for at least one more week
Rookie Dak Prescott has been the Dallas Cowboys’ starting quarterback all of this season and will be again next week against the Cleveland Browns.
After that, the situation appears to still be up in the air.
“Tony’s not ready to play,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said of injured quarterback Tony Romo after the Cowboys’ 29-23 overtime victory over Philadelphia on Sunday night.
Romo, the longtime Cowboys starter, just last week returned to practice on a limited basis after suffering a compression fracture in his back during the preseason. Prescott got off to a slow start with a 20-19 loss to the New York Giants in Week 1. Since then, however, the rookie and the Cowboys have been spectacular.
At least until Sunday night. Prescott would have had the worst game of his young career and Dallas would have suffered its first loss since opening weekend if it weren’t for two key drives, one toward the end of regulation and the other in overtime.
In the first of those drives, Prescott completed five of eight passes for 78 yards, including a pinpoint 22-yarder to Dez Bryant in the end zone to tie the score at 23-23 with 3:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. In overtime, Prescott never gave the Eagles possession, completing five of five passes for 56 yards and ending the game with a five-yard pass to a wide-open Jason Witten in the end zone.
Not counting those two drives, however, Prescott completed just nine of 26 passes for 153 yards with one end-zone interception (and would have had another one if Terrance Williams didn’t make a heads-up tackle on Leodis McKelvin for the most welcome offensive pass interference call the Cowboys ever got).
“A little sloppy by me in the first half and throughout the game,” Prescott said. “I’ve got to be more consistent.”
Nonetheless, the magic stretch for the Cowboys and their rookie quarterback extended at least another week — and should continue against the 0-8 Browns. At some point after that, however, the organization is going to have to make a tough decision regarding the quarterback position.
“Tony’s making a lot of progress,” Jones said. “We’re excited about that, but at this particular time I don’t have any more [to] clarify. My opinion is Dak will start against Cleveland.”
Twitter: @chewkiii
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