Seeing is believing for QB
Prescott says preparation key, but is he trying to be too perfect?
There’s a phrase Dak Prescott often uses with reporters when he talks about the intricacies of his position.
It’s a way to address the vast amount of information a quarterback must process in a remarkably short period of time without letting it diffuse his focus on where the ball needs to be thrown. It has to do with discipline and eye control.
It’s about cutting to the chase, something Nick Saban does quite a bit, which is why the Alabama coach stresses this point with his players:
“See a little, see a lot. See a lot, see nothing.’’
How is Prescott seeing the game these days?
“I feel like I’m seeing it fine,” he said. “I don’t know if you all (media members) differ. It doesn’t really matter to me.
“We’re continuing to get better and work and that’s the simple fact of it.’’
The simple fact is the impressive start Prescott had to open the season has cooled over the last two months. He’s had his moments, but the consistency isn’t there. The command and accuracy that were a given now waver over the course of certain games.
Prescott clearly has a deep understanding of this offense. He’s about to complete his sixth season in the scheme, a scheme Mike Mccarthy wanted to keep in place when taking over as head coach last year to continue the QB’S development.
Here’s a variation of Saban’s charge to players. Once you’ve been in the same system as long as Prescott, once you’ve gone this deep, is there a tendency to wait and push to make the perfect play rather than just make a play?
“I mean obviously, you want to make the right play,’’ Prescott said. “But yeah, not all of the time is the perfect play the right play. There are a lot of plays and opportunities within one play for the ball to go.’’
The extent to which Prescott is or isn’t responsible for the team’s current offensive struggles is difficult to unravel. The Cowboys, and other teams, have primary, secondary and auxiliary plays. You call run plays that you run regardless of the defensive scheme. The same goes for certain pass plays. Others plays give the quarterback the latitude to adjust.
It’s become a chess match at the line of scrimmage. Mccarthy will tell you there are more decisions for a quarterback to make at the line of scrimmage now than there were 10 years ago.
The defense Prescott sees pre-snap isn’t the defensive scheme he must dismantle post-snap. Arizona spoke openly about how they disguised their looks and confused Prescott. He didn’t disagree.
That doesn’t mean it’s a new concept.
“The reality is that’s the world we live in,’’ Mccarthy said. “We compete against a defense in training camp that doesn’t show you the coverage before the ball is snapped.
“The pre-snap is a big part of what goes in today’s NFL, and it’s only going to be a bigger challenge coming up. Just looking at what Philadelphia’s done, they’re a little different defensively than they were at the beginning of the year and the presnap is part of that.’’
Receiver Amari Cooper gave the Cardinals credit for disguising the defensive pressure they threw at the Cowboys in Sunday’s loss. He said the Arizona cornerbacks did a good job of sitting on their hot routes when the Cardinals would blitz.
How does Prescott respond?
More film study. Understand it’s not what he sees pre-snap, it’s about the coverages a defense wants to get to out of certain looks.
“I’ve got to trust my preparation and film study, seeing what they do post snap and getting to reads and going through and trust what I am seeing and react,’’ Prescott said.
See a little, see a lot.
“This will be a great challenge for us and I think it will only be increased and even more effective once we get into the playoffs,’’ Mccarthy said of how teams are playing Prescott and the Cowboys. “Playoff teams do a hell of a job trying to win the pre-snap. We’re all trying the same thing.
“I’m not as concerned about it because it’s something we work on all the time. I think Dak, our tackles and our perimeter group do a very good job of recognizing what’s going on before the pre-snap.
“It’s a focus for us every day and I’m confident that we’ll show up Saturday night with a good reaction to the pre-snap.’’