San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Prescott says he’s ready for opener
FRISCO — Dak Prescott didn’t need long to recapture the feeling.
It took only a practice or two, he said Friday.
The Cowboys quarterback resumed team drills Aug. 25, almost a full month removed from the July 27 latissimus strain that caused him shoulder discomfort, prompting his July 28 exit from practice. He needed only a couple of days to regain his mental rhythm.
A physical rhythm came even sooner.
“The moment I got into team reps, I wasn’t dialing anything down,” Prescott said in his first public comments in three weeks. “I wasn’t trying to throw a certain amount of (velocity) percentage. … I just went out there and played within the moment, ripping passes, not thinking about it, just making the plays I needed to make. Then after two days like that, realizing there wasn’t any residual effect, and I wasn’t sore.
“I’ve been sticking to the plan, and it’s all worked out. From the shoulder to the leg to my mind, I’m ready to go.”
Prescott didn’t have the buildup to this regular season that he or the Cowboys envisioned. But he believes the combination of his preparation and the familiarity between him and the rest of the offense have made up for lost time.
His first game in nearly 11 months will come Thursday evening against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prescott declared himself set for the challenge.
“I’m definitely ready,” he said. “I’m excited. I put in a lot of work to get to this point. Whether it was months ago, rehabbing the ankle, to the last few (weeks) keeping the feet working while I was letting my arm rest. There is so much
work I put into this. I’m just excited to go out there and be a part of the full game. Just being out there with my brothers and being able to do something I love.”
Prescott fractured his ankle last October.
In the months that followed, teammates marveled at how he approached his rehabilitation, saying his focus and toughness inspired them to dig deeper when working back from their own injuries. While this lat strain was far less significant than the ankle, not requiring any surgery, Prescott rose to the occasion again.
Prescott stopped throwing. He never stopped quarterbacking.
Garrett Gilbert handled most of the first-team reps during the four weeks when Prescott wasn’t involved. Instead of just observing Gilbert, Prescott went through the mental motions of drills with him, from hearing the play call to imagining himself walking toward the line of scrimmage.
In his mind, Prescott checked the front, the secondary and the defensive rotation. Based off the look shown, he internally adjusted or changed out of certain plays.
At the snap, Prescott’s eyes were downfield.
“I’d throw it here,” he told himself.
Sometimes, he or Gilbert would have made the throw. Other times, he would check where Gilbert threw and survey all the other progressions to that play. Prescott took these mental reps with Cooper Rush and Ben DiNucci
quarterbacking the backup units, too.
Prescott did plenty of strength and conditioning while keeping his mind sharp.
When he resumed team drills, he put it all together. He just needed to slow down.
“I was playing ahead of the game in a sense,” Prescott said. “As I said, in my head, when you’re not out there, you’re going, ‘Bam, bam, bam,’ for the checkdown. Or you’re going, ‘Kill it there, kill the run, do that run. Get to this, get to that.’ Obviously, when you’re in there and you play that fast, you say, ‘Wait a minute. I’ve got to settle down and know the real speed of things. That ‘backer’s dropping, but I can make this throw behind him. That wasn’t a dirty window. Didn’t have to get to the checkdown that fast.’
“And that’s just a process that I’ve already tightened up. That’s just something I’ll continue to do over these next few days.”
Familiarity will take care of the rest.
Prescott said he knows how his wide receivers, tight ends and running backs perform their routes. He only has five games of regular-season experience with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, but otherwise, he has years of reps already in the books with his teammates.
They can communicate without words, as Prescott reads their subtle body movements and anticipates what they’ll do next.
There is also the rapport he’s developed with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, his former teammate who became his quarterbacks coach and is the play caller for a third straight season.
Prescott expressed gratitude that the regular-season opener is Thursday, even if it means two fewer days of preparation than if it had been a Sunday game.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way, to be honest,” Prescott said. “I love night games. Love playing in prime time. I think it’s just set for the perfect stage. Them coming off of the Super Bowl title and us having fans back to full capacity, I think this is what the NFL and the world needs.”