FRISCO, Texas – Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott dropped back and rolled out. He handed off to running back Tony Pollard and faked a scramble. Prescott sprinted to the line of scrimmage, where the running and cutting he’d cycled through during Tuesday’s OTA practice continued unimpeded.
Progress.
“A couple of weeks ago, I may have been a little bit more timid,” Prescott said Tuesday afternoon from Dallas' training complex, The Star, “where the last few days I was really trying to push it and trying to go further than I normally would carrying out the fake. Just for that psychological effect where it’s, ‘Hey, it’s good. You’re fine. You see you doing it.’
“The more reps happen, the better and better it feels.”
More than seven months have elapsed since Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle on Oct. 11. His 2020 season was suddenly over in Week 5, tears streaming down the quarterback’s face as he was carted off the field from a Giants-Cowboys game and into an ambulance that would transport him to a hospital for emergency surgery. A second surgery occurred in December to stabilize his ankle. But as he progressed from crutches to boot, football eluded him.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott moving well during today’s OTA. Active in 7 on 7, drills with WRs, QB footwork drills. Smooth dropping back and rolling out. Not yet integrating into 11 on 11 vs. pass rush. pic.twitter.com/pRyoRUmu1j
Now, as he’s physically unshackled, Prescott is aiming to retrain his mind also. Working at Cowboys OTAs this week was a significant step.
“A full-speed 7-on-7, to do a 2-minute drill and mechanics today was good for him and everybody,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday. “Doing no-huddle (Monday). So just getting the full-speed tempo and working not (only) physically but the emotional and the mental components of it to be firing on all cylinders.
“This is exactly what he needed.”
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‘No excuses’
Prescott’s return to team work in this OTA phase excites teammates, coaches and the quarterback alike. The decision making and pre-snap communication required to decipher coverages are welcome returns to a team looking to rebound from a 6-10, injury-riddled campaign.
Prescott's been doing his part at The Star ever since he was injured.
“He’s worked his tail off every day,” says tight end Blake Jarwin, who continues to rehab from an ACL tear. “He got in here in the offseason at 8 a.m. and he left at 2:30 p.m. at the earliest.
“The guy is just a worker.”
Prescott regained strength and flexibility long before reintegrating the footwork and movements he’s now cycling through. Trainers carefully strategized the rate at which he would test each movement without risking a setback. In April, Prescott was buoyed to find himself sprinting and cutting, jumping and landing with his weight on his right leg. And not simply moving in familiar ways – but doing so with abandon.
Dak Prescott on Cowboys teammates’ psyche: Coming off a season like last year without a lot of wins and with a lot of injuries, guys are hungry. Sense of urgency.
“Doing a lot of things I’d naturally do in a game and doing them in a reactive form, not necessarily calculated,” Prescott said. “Not necessarily feeling anything or having the nagging residual pain afterward. I felt like then, I was ready to go.”
A return to quarterback movements followed.
Tight end Dalton Schultz marveled earlier this month when Prescott’s private quarterback coach elucidated how Prescott should tap and turn his hips during a throwing session. Schultz then thought for a second.
“I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t know how you see that stuff,’” he said. “The ball’s hitting my hands the same exact way.
"The ball’s coming out the same was it was before the injury. From what I can tell, it looks like he picked back up right where he left off.”
In addition to Dak Prescott working in OTAs today, he’s been inviting Cowboys teammates over to throw. Dak setting the standard.
“He’s holding guys accountable,” Dalton Schultz told us. “If you say you’re going to show up, you better show up. It’s awesome.”
(📹: @dallascowboys) pic.twitter.com/ePDdEpbgLg
Schultz felt the same way Tuesday as Prescott dropped back before nailing him down the right sideline in one drill and again for a shovel pass underneath that Schultz tucked before running upfield.
Prescott similarly found receivers Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb and Cedrick Wilson on routes, though he did cede an interception and another batted pass on his second consecutive day of work. Shaking off the rust?
“One of them was on the run, in the sense right now in OTAs I’m not going to necessarily throw the ball away,” Prescott said of the failed plays. “I have to say my leg got tired, but I felt it more than I did yesterday. No excuses. It’s just something I’ve got to move forward and continue to build that endurance.”
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