Cowboys QB still missing taste, smell after COVID-19
FRISCO, Texas — Sixteen days after landing on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Andy Dalton's sense of taste and smell still elude him.
“You can tell things are sweet,” the Cowboys quarterback said Thursday from the Star. “You can tell things are salty. You just don't get the flavor with it.”
After a whirlwind month battling a concussion and then the novel coronavirus, Dalton will settle for that.
The Cowboys si gned Dalton in May as insurance for four-year starter Dak Prescott. When Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury Oct. 11, Dalton replaced him to complete Dallas' 34-31 win over the Giants. But two games later, a vicious head-tohead hit from Washington linebacker Jon Bostic left a helmetless Dalton sprawled on the grass of FedEx Field. He relies on others to tell him what happened next.
“I remember deciding to slide and then there's a little bit there that I don't remember,” said Dalton, who had avoided a concussion diagnosis through his first 140 career games. “In the moment, you don't realize it. But then the aftermath of it all, kind of going back, you realize you're missing some of your memory of stuff that's happened.
“I mean, that's definitely something you don't want to have happen.”
Dalton was cleared to fly back from Washington with the team. He went through NFL concussion protocol the final week of October, unable to practice but allowed to participate in some meetings that week as rookie seventh-rounder Ben Di Nucci prepared to start at Philadelphia. Dalton was at the facility and in the Cowboys' quarterbacks meeting Oct. 31 just before the team left town without him. His headaches and concussion symptoms had al leviated as the week elapsed. Dalton was hopeful he could be cleared to play the undefeated Steelers the following week.
Then, Dalton's headaches returned. They felt different from his earlier-week concussion aftermath. Dalton tested positive for COVID-19, landing on the Cowboys' reserve list Nov. 3. His wife and younger son tested positive a “couple of days after” while their daughter and older son did not appear to contract it.
Quarantining at the Dalton home en sued. Dalton could lift weights and text Garrett Gilbert as the journeyman prepared to be the Cowboys' fourth quarterback in five weeks. But Dalton needed to delay any visit to the Star for workouts or meetings, as well as to clear himself from the concussion protocol.
“It hit me hard the first day I had it,” Dalton said of the virus. “I eventually lost smell and taste. Early on that's not what I had. But by the end of it, I did lose my smell and taste and am still trying to get that back.”
By last Thursday, Dalton returned to the Star to throw and ensure his timing was sharp during Dallas' bye week. He was able to fully participate in the Cowboys' walkthrough on Monday, officially shaking the concussion and COVID- 19 protocol restrictions by Wednesday. Head coach Mike McCarthy declined to publicly name Dalton the starter for this weekend's visit to Minnesota but has lauded the veteran's performance in his return.
“I thought he was decisive, and he threw the ball very well,” McCarthy said Thursday morning. “That's the biggest thing, as long as the ball is coming out on time and so forth. I thought he was in rhythm. Andy has excellent command of the whole operation. I thought Andy had a good practice yesterday. It's great to have him back.”