After playoff flop, Dak plans ‘golden year’
OXNARD, Calif. — More than six months have passed since Dak Prescott paused and stared down for a few seconds. Several cameras and dozens of reporters waited on the Cowboys quarterback, dressed in a black turtleneck sweater beneath a diamond-checkered blue jacket. He exhaled.
“The brotherhood that we have, everything that we’ve worked for, knowing that we had a chance,” Prescott said. “In all of my years, I don’t know if I’ve had a better chance or better full team than this. It’s hard to accept.”
Minutes earlier, Ezekiel Elliott stood in a separate room at AT&T Stadium. His quiet, raspy voice scraped the air like a cardboard box being dragged against gravel.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “This is the best team I’ve been on. It is disappointing. It hurts. All of us are hurting. We’ve just got to rally around each other and start thinking about next year.”
That was Prescott and Elliott after a Jan. 16 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers. And that was them again this week during a team meeting at training camp.
Chad Bohling, the Cowboys’ mental conditioning consultant, showed the entire team video clips from those postgame news conferences, providing a reminder of how they felt that day — and how they don’t want to feel again. Prescott has used the first-round loss as a launching point for an offseason defined by personal gains.
By nature of his position, any hope for this Cowboys season to end differently starts with him.
Prescott underwent February surgery to his nonthrowing shoulder. That small exception aside, he was healthy for the past several months, a sharp contrast to all the rehabilitation from multiple ankle surgeries that consumed his attention in
2021.
“It was tough,” Prescott said of processing the playoff defeat, “but it was easy to get back to work, knowing that’s the only thing that could …fix anything moving forward. Yeah, there’s times that you reflect back. Give Chad Bohling credit. … (Cornerback) Anthony Brown broke down the group yesterday and mentioned it as well.
“So that feeling is a nasty feeling. It’s one that when you think about, you want to go do whatever you can to make sure you don’t feel that way again. That’s what we’re out here trying to do.”
No active Cowboys wide receiver or tight end has caught
Prescott’s passes longer than tight end Dalton Schultz, who arrived in Dallas in 2018. Schultz said he has noticed Prescott’s throws having “a lot more horsepower” and an “uncanny amount of zip” compared to before.
Prescott also has improved his footwork, which was lacking down last season’s stretch. Meanwhile, coach Mike Mccarthy described Prescott as leaner and more flexible.
Prescott credited his functional training for the improved velocity.
“A lot of the rotation work, using my legs,” Prescott said. “Just working on different arm angles, being able to get the power
in my throw no matter which way or whatever the route is, whether it’s an out breaker, in breaker, a got-to-get-it-aroundsomebody. Just a lot of work has been put into it, and it’s starting to show.”
Prescott hosted receivers for several throwing sessions at his house this offseason. In early July, during the six-week break between minicamp and training camp, he spent a couple days at the University of Miami, throwing to Elliott, Schultz, wide receiver Ceedee Lamb, rookie wide receiver Jalen Tolbert and tight end Sean Mckeon.
Now is when the dividends begin to be seen.
“He’s been working his butt
off all offseason, and this year specifically,” Schultz said. “I’ve had a front row seat at that. I’m looking forward to seeing him take a leap this year.”
There is no forgetting the feeling from Jan. 16. Bohling, who strategizes messaging with Mccarthy before presenting to players, made sure of that. It’s important to reflect. It’s also more important to move forward.
“As they say, the rearview mirror is a whole lot smaller than the front windshield,” said Prescott, whose birthday is Friday. “I think it’s good to do that. I will be 29 on the 29th. It will be the golden birthday. I plan for this to be the golden year.”