Cowboys’ Dak Prescott eyeing Week 7 return vs Lions: ‘That’s my plan’

Just hours after Cooper Rush’s first loss as an NFL starting quarterback, his time at the helm of the Cowboys offense appears to be at an end.

Dak Prescott, who wasn’t officially ruled out of Sunday night’s divisional tilt with undefeated Philadelphia until shortly before kickoff, aims to make his return to duty next Sunday when Dallas welcomes the Detroit Lions to AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

“That’s my plan,” the veteran said- per ESPN– as the team headed to the bus following their 26-17 loss to the Eagles. “Obviously got to see the doc, but yeah, that’s kind of my plan.”

Prescott has missed the past five games with a fractured thumb on his throwing hand, an injury he suffered during the season-opening loss to Tampa Bay. The Cowboys then put together a four-game winning streak in his absence with the backup Rush under center.

Prescott participated in practice for the first time last week and had been delivering promising updates on his rehabbed grip strength, but the team opted to hold him out of the Week 6 rivalry game in favor of Rush.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy had said he wanted to see Prescott go through a full week of practice before reclaiming his starting role; that full week looks to get underway once the team re-assembles at The Star following Sunday night’s loss in which Rush threw three interceptions and turned in a 37.3 passer rating.

Prescott was seen throwing balls at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday in a scripted workout with practice squad players, as McCarthy and vice president of player personnel Will McClay looked on.

“I thought Dak took the next step,” McCarthy said postgame of the two-time Pro Bowler’s weekend rehab work. “He had a good day yesterday in the Saturday practice… and then we wanted to push it to 50 throws today.”

Prescott had voiced optimism about coming back from his Sept. 12 surgery much earlier, but his recovery will end up following the original six-week timeline almost to the day.

“I had plans; [the] bone didn’t have the same plan,” Prescott said. “So that got pushed back, but that was me being eager. That was nothing different from what were the doctor’s plans, the trainers’ plans. As I said, the plan now is just to go next week, and let’s see if I can do that.”

With Monday being a film study day, Tuesday off, and Wednesday being the weekly “mock game” walkthrough, McCarthy said he hopes to get a plan for Prescott’s Week 7 status in place once he throws in practice Thursday.

While the Eagles loss was disappointing, the Cowboys have been one of the league’s biggest surprises in Prescott’s absence. Few would have expected a 4-2 record to even be realistic when the 29-year-old’s injury occurred; many feared the season was lost on opening night and that Prescott would be rushing back just to try to salvage the ’22 campaign.

But Rush has kept the car squarely on the road over the past month-plus. Now Prescott is eager to get his hands back on the wheel.

“I never really had any doubt that the team wouldn’t do what they just did,” Prescott said. “Obviously, you all know me, [I’m] very optimistic. Got a lot of pride in this team, know the guys that are on this team, the defense, know what Cooper is capable of. Obviously disappointed I couldn’t be with the guys along, what, the past five weeks, I guess. But excited to move forward and happy as hell with the position that we’re in, and we can get rolling.”

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Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire