Cowboys cautious: No Prescott vs. Vikes

The Cowboys decided to hold quarterback Dak Prescott out of their road game against the Vikings because of a strained right calf muscle and give Cooper Rush his first career start.

Prescott was placed on the inactive list Sunday night after being listed as questionable to play the Vikings. He was hurt Oct. 17 during his touchdown pass to beat the Patriots in overtime. Two full weeks including the team’s week off to treat and rest the injury weren’t quite enough for clearance.

The game ended too late for this edition.

Prescott went through his normal pregame routine on the turf at U.S. Bank Stadium more than two hours before kickoff with Britt Brown, the team’s director of rehabilitation. He showed no obvious signs of limitation, but the message from the Cowboys all week was caution to keep the soft tissue issue from lingering.

After losing Prescott to a broken and dislocated right ankle in the fifth game of the 2020 season, the Cowboys are determined to avoid another long-term absence. Prescott became the first player in Cowboys history with four straight games with three or more TD passes against the Patriots.

Rush, 27, latched on with the Cowboys in 2017 as an undrafted project out of Central Michigan. He had appeared in six career regular-season games in mop-up duty and had attempted just three passes.

College football: Michigan State moved up to No. 5 in The AP poll after its win over Michigan and Wake Forest became a top-10 team for the first time, checking in at No. 10. Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fourth straight week.

NHL: Brett Pesce scored a power-play goal with 2:27 left to keep the Hurricanes undefeated with a 2-1 victory over the winless Coyotes. The Hurricanes are the league’s last unbeaten team at 8-0-0, extending the best start to a season in franchise history.