OXNARD, Caif. — Watching the Dallas Cowboys and LA Rams run a joint practice was great, but the showdown between Matt Stafford and Garrett Gilbert felt wrong.
The same for Stafford v. Ben DiNucci.
The joint practice on Saturday needed Dak Prescott, but instead the Cowboys kept their $160 million QB on the sidelines socially distanced from any football contact.
At least that’s not a HIPAA violation.
The only thing remotely close to football activity he participated in was as a defensive back covering CeeDee Lamb, or Michael Gallup, in walkthrough plays.
This is both not a problem, and not good.
We were originally talking about Dak’s ankle, and now it’s his shoulder, too.
He has yet to prove he’s the player he was before suffering that disgusting ankle injury that will never escape our brains.
Just assume the Dallas Cowboys are lying about the severity of Dak’s strain in his right shoulder. You know, the shoulder he needs to throw a football.
Cowboys Hall of Fame owner Jerry Jones told the Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill the team is taking this precaution with Dak after conferring with the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers told the Cowboys to just shut down the shoulder and let it heal.
I’m all for second opinions, but since Cowboys are out here in SoCal couldn’t they confer with the World Series champion LA Dodgers, rather than a team that needs an earthquake to dislodge them from last place?
Call the Padres. The Mariners are a better option.
Dak’s condition is so not-serious the Cowboys talked to other doctors about it. Because it’s not a big deal.
Because it’s the preseason, we know Dak isn’t missing too much.
Take the advice from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman when he said Thursday night, “The Cowboys are downplaying it, but I think when your franchise quarterback is missing the amount of time he’s missing, I tend to think it’s probably a little bit more significant than what they have led on.”
Bill Parcells once said, when it’s football season, football players play football.
Dak Prescott just getting treatment rather than playing football is hardly ideal.
He has been out since July 28, and he did not go with the team for its first fake football game of ‘21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Hall of Fame snore.
“(He is) making a lot of progress. Staying back he was able to get extra treatment and do some extra things. Again this is more us than him,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Saturday. “This is us being cautious. I feel real good about where he is.”
If you feel so good about him then why isn’t he playing football?
Because you don’t.
McCarthy said Dak has done some light throwing, and he will continue to be evaluated before they uncase him from bubble wrap and let him play football again.
The Cowboys play on Friday night in Arizona against the Cardinals, and it’s hard to see a Dak v. Kyler Murray two-series showdown happening.
The Cowboys have one month before starting the regular season on Thursday, Sept. 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Cowboys’ starting quarterback has not played a game, other than Xbox, since he suffered a fractured ankle on Oct. 11, 2020 against the New York Giants.
No player in the NFL needs to demonstrate he is just fine more than Dak Prescott.
For himself. For his team. For his teammates.
For the man who handed him $160 million. For the coach whose career with the Cowboys depends on it.
“Honestly, as much as we want him out there, it puts a lot on the rest of the guys,” Cowboys guard Zack Martin said after the practice on Saturday. “Like, ‘Hey, No. 4 is not in the huddle. We’ve got to overcome some things and work on some things.’ As badly as we want him out there, I think it’s been good to kind of go out there and kind of survive a little bit without him.”
Yeah, we saw how that worked last year after Dak’s ankle was pointed in a 45-degree angle. The Cowboys’ season went minus-90 degrees soon thereafter.
No one wants to see how the Cowboys will survive with Garrett Gilbert running things, or Ben DiNucci slingin’ that thing sideways.
We know how it goes.
Dak’s shoulder likely isn’t that bad, but it’s also not that good.
And there is no way to escape the reality that the health of the Dallas Cowboys’ franchise quarterback is still a concern until he himself proves it’s not.
