Report: Sources believe Dak Prescott will return "better than ever"
It is hard to watch the NFL Playoffs and not be disappointed that the Dallas Cowboys did not play postseason football in 2020. The team entered year-one of the Mike McCarthy era with high hopes, but things just did not play out in the Cowboys' favor. Perhaps the biggest factor in the Dallas Cowboys finishing […]
It is hard to watch the NFL Playoffs and not be disappointed that the Dallas Cowboys did not play postseason football in 2020. The team entered year-one of the Mike McCarthy era with high hopes, but things just did not play out in the Cowboys' favor.
Perhaps the biggest factor in the Dallas Cowboys finishing the year with a 6-10 record is the injury bug. Nearly every position group was forced to overcome a major injury, from quarterback to offensive line to defensive line and so-forth.
The three biggest injuries all occurred on the offensive side of the ball: quarterback Dak Prescott, left tackle Tyron Smith, and right tackle La'el Collins. While Prescott and Smith were both able to suit up for multiple games at the beginning of the season, Collins never suited up for Dallas in 2020.
All three are important pieces to the Cowboys, and the team's executive vice president, Stephen Jones, is confident that both starting tackles will make full recoveries in time for the 2021 season, per the Dallas Morning News.
"We feel good about both of them. We actually have been having those conversations already about our guys with our future, guys who are on our injured list. Feel good that, barring an unfortunate injury, the injuries that they have won’t, shouldn’t be a factor. Whether they play a full season or not next year, that they should fully recover and be ready to go."
Signs are pointing to Dak being on track for a full recovery as well for the Cowboys.
Having both starting tackles available and ready to go for next fall is important, but what is the status on the Cowboys' franchise quarterback? The overwhelming feeling has been Prescott will be ready to go in 2021 after suffering a compound fracture and dislocation of his ankle; that said, we can never get too many updates on number four.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport provided the latest bit of information concerning Dak Prescott and his rehab process on Saturday. The beginning of the clip begins with Rapoport discussing the Cowboys' newly-hired defensive coordinator Dan Quinn before shifting over to the team's franchise quarterback.
Rapoport stated that his sources have said that Prescott is "coming along great" and is working on an anti-gravity treadmill and in a HydroWorx pool, which takes pressure off his ankle but allows him to get in shape. The more interesting part of what Rapoport said was towards the end of the embedded clip:
"He is making great process. Based on the work he’s put in, what they think, he’s going to come back better than ever."
Better than ever? That is a pretty significant statement considering the type of season that Dak Prescott was on the way to having prior to suffering the injury in the third quarter of week five's game against the New York Giants.
Prescott was off to his best start throwing the football in his young career and was on his way to breaking all kinds of passing records. His mechanics looked even more improved than they did in the 2019 season, and his game jumped to a different level.
All signs point to Prescott continuing on the trajectory to being one of the elite quarterbacks in the National Football League, which is even more of a reason for the Dallas Cowboys to get a deal done with their franchise signal-caller.
For now, Rapoport offers more reason to be optimistic about Dak Prescott moving forward.
Featured image via Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
