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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott knocked on the wooden lectern when asked whether there was a chance he would miss some time because of a hamstring injury that knocked him out of Sunday’s 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Prescott will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones called it a “high hamstring” injury.
“I mean, it’s hard for me to say. I would say that I’ll be out there next week,” Prescott said of the Cowboys’ Week 10 meeting vs. the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 10. “Once again, I’ve got to see. Luckily, I can say I’ve healed fast, I’ve progressed fast on injuries and things, so thankful for that. Got to get a picture of it. When we get a picture of it, I guess we’ll see how bad it is.
“It’ll take a lot for me to not be out there, I’ll say, personally.”
Additionally, Cowboys star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is dealing with a right AC joint issue with his shoulder and is set to undergo an MRI. Jones said he is hopeful Lamb can continue to play since he was able to play through it on Sunday.
Prescott suffered his injury after a 5-yard scramble late in the third quarter. On the next play, cameras caught him grimacing as he threw a wobbling 10-yard pass to Jalen Brooks on the wide side of the field.
“I felt it when I was getting up from the run. I can’t even say that I felt it running,” Prescott said. “The tackle, maybe something on the tackle. Yeah, I don’t know, but when I was standing up, I felt something actually. Didn’t think it was much. You get tired. It’s a physical game. A lot of times you feel different things and they kind of go away.”
When he got to the top of his dropback, Prescott said he “felt something I’ve never felt. Yeah, it was tough to walk on it at that point.”
He asked the medical staff whether he could make the injury worse if he continued to play and was told he would not be able to protect himself, so he was pulled in favor of Cooper Rush to start the fourth quarter.
Prescott went 18-of-24 for 133 yards with one touchdown. He had a season-high 30 yards rushing, including a 22-yard gain on a second-quarter scoring drive. It was the Cowboys’ longest run of the season, and Prescott entered the game with 24 yards rushing on the season.
Prescott’s right hand was shown on the TV broadcast to be swollen, but Jones said after the game that it was not an issue, especially considering the hamstring.
“I am concerned about that,” Jones said of Prescott potentially needing to miss action.
Rush went 13-of-25 for 115 yards with a touchdown in relief of Prescott. Before Sunday, Rush played in two games this season in mop-up duty, completing 9 of 14 passes for 52 yards and an interception. But in 2022, he went 4-1 as the Cowboys’ starter after Prescott suffered a broken right thumb in the season opener.
If Prescott can’t play, then Trey Lance would serve as Rush’s backup.
“Obviously if [Prescott] can be out there, that’s obviously the best-case scenario, but Cooper’s been here a long time and we’ve got a ton of confidence in Cooper,” Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin said. “Anytime he steps in there, he doesn’t miss a beat. He takes command of the huddle. He’s very intelligent out there and we’ve got all the confidence in the world if he’s got to go.”
Prescott agreed to a four-year, $240 million contract hours before the season opener that made him the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Including Sunday, he had started 36 straight games after his thumb injury. He missed 11 games in 2020 because of a dislocation and fracture of his right ankle and missed one game in 2021 with a right calf strain.
He hopes he can make it 37 straight starts next week.
“A lot of this game is mental, so from that standpoint, I’ll be able to get those reps [if I don’t practice during the week],” Prescott said. “You play this position, the quarterback position, every rep is your rep whether you’re in there or not. You saw with Coop going in there, giving us a chance, a guy who understands that exactly. So I know what it means to watch practice if I can’t participate and get the reps that I need to, all the stuff I normally do and then some.
“But it will be an important one, just to test the hamstring and as I said, I look forward to doing everything I can in my power to heal this thing up, get a couple of reps in at practice and get out there.”