Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott returned to the field on Thursday for the first time since dislocating his ankle in Week 5 of the 2020 season.
A lot has happened since the last time Prescott took the field. The quarterback signed a four-year extension with the Cowboys worth $160 million with $126 million guaranteed and a $66 million signing bonus.
Prescott’s offseason was filled with a demanding rehabilitation for his surgically repaired ankle. His motivation? Former Washington quarterback Alex Smith.
Smith, of course, returned to the field last season after a gruesome 2018 leg injury that almost cost him his leg. It would be the greatest comeback in modern sports history.
Prescott spoke with Maria Taylor of NBC Sports recently and talked about how Smith was an inspiration.
“It was huge,” Prescott said about Smith via Kevin Brown of NBC Sports Washington. “I was in the locker room watching him take the field on Andy Dalton’s iPad in the same game I went and got hurt in. So for later that night and when I woke up from surgery to know that I had just watched somebody full circle come back from something that was actually way worse than what mine was because of the infection, was somebody has already done it.”
Many around the NFL were questioning if Prescott would be ready for Week 1. Again, it was Smith who provided the motivation.
“So it just made the process and the faith that much more attainable,” Prescott said. “Alex Smith has already done it, did it with a great attitude, and just know that I can get through it as well.”
In the first half of the Cowboys’ season-opener against defending champion Tampa Bay, Prescott passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
He’s back.
