The 2024 NFL season could get even more challenging for the Dallas Cowboys with Dak Prescott expected to spent significant time on the sidelines. During his weekly appearance on “105.3 The Fan,” team owner Jerry Jones revealed that Prescott will likely end up on Injured Reserve. This means Mike McCarthy will miss his starting quarterback for at least four weeks.
The Cowboys head coach already knew the outlook was not encouraging, with Prescott leaving Dallas’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday due to a hamstring injury. On Monday, McCarthy said Prescott will be replaced by Cooper Rush.
This gave plenty to talk about, with many fans claiming Trey Lance deserves a chance. Jones seems to align with that feeling, which is why he appeared to contradict the coach’s comments on Tuesday.
“Let’s not dismiss the possibility of doing anything. The ‘going with’ has a past tense aspect to it that I wouldn’t recognize. It’s not impossible to incorporate some of the skills that we might get from both quarterbacks,” Jones said when asked about the Cowboys going with Rush as starter instead of Lance, as quoted by Jon Machota of The Athletic.
McCarthy’s comments hinted that Rush would be Dallas’ QB1 during Prescott‘s absence, starting with the Week 10 clash against division rivals Philadelphia Eagles. Still, Jones made it clear that he’d also like to see Lance on the field in the next weeks: “There are things we can do with him that I think can add punch to the offense.”
Jones traded for Lance without telling McCarthy, Prescott
A first-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 NFL Draft, Lance was traded to Dallas in August 2023 for a fourth-rounder. Jones made the deal in silence, keeping it a secret even from McCarthy until it was complete.
“No, we, we didn’t tell anybody until we did it, period,” Jones admitted in September 2023. “There was nobody that knew [about] it. We told Mike [McCarthy], after we had done it, but my point is we just wanted to get it done. Again, we didn’t waste any time. My point is, we didn’t, we didn’t want them, we didn’t want them to hang up.”
While Jones’ explained he didn’t want the trade to fall apart, the Cowboys owner also defended his move by reminding everyone that he has full control of the franchise’s decisions.
McCarthy said he liked Lance for the Cowboys
Jones confirmed he didn’t talk about the deal with Prescott either, which raised eyebrows by then as Dak’s contract was still a talking point in the NFL. McCarthy, however, downplayed the situation by stating he had approved Lance as a potential target.
“I was involved in the evaluation, but the actual business component of it, I am not involved,” McCarthy said, via The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Those decisions come down to Jerry and Stephen.”
Flash-forward to the 2024 NFL season, McCarthy kept Rush as Prescott’s backup instead of promoting Lance to QB2. The coach expects the 30-year-old to lead the team’s offense with Dak on the sidelines, but we’ll have to wait and see whether Jones’ influence leads to seeing Lance on the field.