Prescott doesn’t feel need to preach unity as Cowboys head into Jaguars match-up
>> FRISCO: Dak Prescott took plenty of time away from the cameras trying to explain why he thinks the Dallas offence is close to breaking through the struggles most responsible for the Cowboys’ losing record.
The quarterback at one point looked for help in his description from Cole Beasley, the receiver who sounded off recently about the frustration his group feels in a sound bite that was perceived as a shot at Prescott.
In short, Prescott sees no issues of unity with the Cowboys (2-3) trying for the third time to get back to .500 with a home game coming off a rough road trip. Jacksonville (3-2) visit tomorrow.
“That’s why I give these guys a lot of credit because we talk, we communicate,” Prescott said on Thursday. “There’s not any beef or any tension from when I go see them on the sideline. It’s great communication. They allow me to do that and we can be straightforward with each other.”
Newcomer Allen Hurns has joined Beasley in trying to defend a receiving corps struggling to replace Jason Witten and Dez Bryant and getting the criticism that figured to go with it.
The former Jaguars player also caused a stir by suggesting that a particularly poor play call resulted in Prescott’s second interception against Houston in a 19-16 overtime loss.
Hurns didn’t back down, but coach Jason Garrett and Prescott didn’t necessarily agree that the call was so terrible. Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan brushed it off as a non-issue.
“I don’t put any stock in that as being critical,” Linehan said. “I’m the first one if you had a better play against that coverage to say we could have a better call there. You don’t have to put that on Allen Hurns. He’s busting his butt and we’re really happy with what he’s doing.”
The Cowboys have the 30th-ranked passing offence in the NFL and the second-fewest touchdowns. The receivers haven’t really earned the right to second-guess because they aren’t producing.
But everyone agrees it’s a combination of protection, Prescott’s accuracy and their shortcomings.
“That kind of comes with the territory here,’’ Beasley said of the criticism. “And I do feel like we’ve gotten a lot of it. But a lot of other people have too. So it’s not just us. It’s just kind of how it goes. Whether it’s true or not, we’ve still got to go in and just do our job.”
The Cowboys have the NFL rushing leader in Ezekiel Elliott, but Prescott is still close to the bottom of the league in key passing efficiency categories two years after setting a rookie passer rating record as NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.