Dak Prescott, 29, Suffers Intense Injury on His Thumb
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As Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recovers from a thumb injury, sources say he will miss six to eight weeks of the season to focus on healing.
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During the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 19-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the quarterback smashed his hand into linebacker Shaq Barrett multiple times. Following the incident, he was not able to properly grip the ball and was pulled to the sidelines.
After visiting with the team’s hand specialist, Dr. Thomas Diliberti, Prescott determined that he would have to undergo hand surgery. “I was told it was much cleaner than it could have been,” the 29-year-old shared after the game.
At the earliest, Prescott is looking at a return to the field on Oct. 30 vs. the Chicago Bears. However, a more reasonable time period would be Nov. 13 against the Green Bay Packers. Despite missing a large chunk of the season, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is confident his team will be able to handle the loss.
Dallas Cowboys opens up about the loss of Dak Prescott
“I think the biggest thing is especially at the quarterback position because obviously the importance of it, is don’t overreact to it,” McCarthy explained, according to ESPN. “Because at the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure we’re giving the players the tools to win the game on Sunday.”
Although missing Prescott is a substantial difference, the head coach also expressed confidence in the team’s backup quarterback, Cooper Rush. “The nice thing about Cooper is Cooper’s been in our system, knows our system inside and out. We won’t be in that position of trying not to do too much or vice versa,” the head coach shared. “Cooper gives us the ability to keep playing.”
Weighing in on Prescott’s departure, running back Tony Pollard noted that a difficult aspect of losing a leader is the emotional toll it takes on the team. Yet, the running back emphasized the notion that maintaining focus is essential to a successful season.
“Definitely going to be tough, but being in the NFL, that’s all a part of this game,” Pollard said. “It’s a 100% injury rate so guys get injured, so we just have to make up for it. Everybody has to lock in, continue doing what they’ve been doing and just focus on doing their job the best that they can.”
