It took only one week for the Cowboys to receive terrible news. In the 2022 NFL season opener against the Buccaneers, Dak Prescott suffered a thumb injury in his throwing hand that required surgery.
As soon as it became public that Prescott would miss several weeks, the outlook for Dallas was not good. Many thought it was necessary to go after Jimmy Garoppolo or other experienced quarterback on the market, but Dallas decided to try its luck with Cooper Rush.
Though he had only one start under his belt, Rush was up to the task in Week 2, making the Cowboys feel relieved with their decision. On top of that, it turns out that Prescott might not be on the sidelines for too long.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones predicts earlier return for Dak Prescott
Speaking on 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted that there is no clear timetable on Prescott’s return yet, but that he could be back on the gridiron much sooner than expected.
“I don’t know that anybody knows [when he’ll be back],” Jones said, via ProFootballTalk. “But when he [gets enough strength in his hand], then you’ll probably see some real advancement in his timeline. I don’t know when that is. I do know that with a good airing out last week, everybody recognizes that he’ll be back sooner than later as far as the timeline.
“It really could be a minimum of two weeks up here in my mind [Washington in Week 4]. Now, that’s very optimistic. But he’s got the kind of repair there that will allow him not to have a lot of fear of re-injuring it. It’s just a question of the grip. But it’s a big question.”
Week 4 is certainly much better than what many people imagined. Prescott was originally expected to miss between six or eight weeks, so having him back against the Commanders would be great news for Dallas. However, we’ll have to see what the doctors say.