Cowboys do not rule out Dak Prescott

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones did not rule Dak Prescott out of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, but admitted that the quarterback’s grip on the ovoid is “not good enough to play” at the moment.

Speaking to 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones noted that Prescott’s surgically repaired right thumb is improving.

“I don’t know how you could ask for better news, technically, physically, in how it’s responding, how it’s healing, so to speak,” Jones offered. “So all those things are ready and I don’t know as we say goodbye to every day if considering the injury, considering the location of the injury, I don’t know if you could have more progress. There are some things with respect to healing that, again I say, only the man up there knows how they work, but [Prescott] is going to have a big week and it’s going to be very hard on himself to get ready to play.”

Prescott is scheduled to meet with doctors this Tuesday. He underwent surgery on Sept. 12, and had stitches removed last Sept. 26. Last week, Mike McCarthy said Prescott was still dealing with swelling at the joint, and Jones said after the win over the Washington Commanders that Prescott still wasn’t really throwing the ball.

On Monday, McCarthy said he wished Prescott would go through a full week of practice before returning.

“I mean, we’re not talking about being out for a week here, you know?”

Jones said on the radio, “We need to have that process before we get to a game. We can’t take the work out of the week and be ready, especially not at the quarterback position.”

If Prescott is not ready, Cooper Rush will get his fourth consecutive start. Rush became the first quarterback in Cowboys history to win the first four starts of his career (he finished with a 1-0 record last season). In his three starts this season, he has accumulated four touchdown passes with no interceptions and has been caught just twice.

When asked if there was a number of games or win that would make Cowboys stick with Rush the way they did with Prescott in 2016 when Tony Romo was healthy, Jones said, “No, not the way I see it today.”