Jerry Jones wouldn’t mind Dak Prescott-Cooper Rush QB controversy originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Dak Prescott made his return to practice Thursday and he could be back under center for the Dallas Cowboys as soon as Week 4.
But that didn’t stop Jerry Jones from making headlines about a potential quarterback controversy.
The Cowboys owner told reporters he would welcome a quarterback dilemma in Dallas this season as a result of strong play from backup Cooper Rush.
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“Wouldn’t it be something if you had a dilemma as to which way you go [at quarterback]? You do that if [Rush] gets 10 wins,” Jones said. “Same thing that happened with Prescott. I think like that.”
“Of course I would. Of course,” Jones replied when asked if he would specifically want the controversy that comes with a QB dilemma. “If [Rush] comes in and plays as well as Prescott played? Played that well over these next games ahead? I'd walk to New York to get that.”
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“... Of course we want Dak to be here next week. That’s the thing, you do. But Dak and I want Rush to lead the team to victory here, and get another win and get another win. That's the only way to look at it.
“… So do I think that it’s possible for Rush to come in here and play to the level and win games the way Prescott did when he took over for Romo? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I certainly think that’s possible.”
As Jones mentioned, Prescott had a long stretch of games to prove himself worthy of being the starter during the Cowboys’ last quarterback controversy. Back in 2016, a then-rookie Prescott stepped in for an injured Tony Romo, who went down with a serious back injury in the preseason. Dallas started off that season 8-1 as Prescott claimed the full-time starting job from Romo.
However, it doesn’t seem like Rush will be afforded the same kind of opportunity with Prescott’s return from a thumb injury looming. So could Rush, who’s 1-0 so far, play well enough in just a handful of games to really convince the Cowboys to continue starting him over Prescott?
“Well, it was impossible, ostensibly, that Prescott could play that well and keep Romo out of the [2016 divisional round playoff game] when every other team in the tournament had a seasoned veteran, excellent quarterback.”
That certainly wasn’t a no.
While Dallas’ Prescott-led offense struggled in a season-opening loss to Tampa Bay, the two-time Pro Bowler boasts a career record of 53-33 and is in the second year of a four-year, $160 million deal. Rush, meanwhile, has made two starts over five pro seasons and been cut by the Cowboys multiple times.
Suffice to say, it seems extremely unlikely that Rush will supplant Prescott as the starting QB on America’s Team over the next few weeks.
So why the quarterback controversy talk from Jones then? Are the Cowboys not thrilled about Prescott long term or is this just simply another case of Jerry being Jerry?
“He wants y’all to be clicking and listening, too," Ezekiel Elliott said when informed of Jones’ comments. "It’s all marketing. It’s all marketing.”
Hard to argue with Zeke there.
