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| Photo Credit: AP. |
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will need surgery for a fractured bone in his throwing hand sustained in the season opener and will miss multiple weeks.
The
quarterback got hurt in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ 19-3 loss to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night. Prescott’s right hand made contact with
rushing linebacker Shaquil Barrett when throwing a pass.
Prescott
said he initially thought he had just jammed a finger, like he has many times
before, but realized on the next play that he couldn’t grip the football.
After
initially being checked on the sideline, he jogged to the locker room and had
X-rays. Backup Cooper Rush finished the game.
“I’ve hit my
hand on helmets or bodies a lot in my career and never had anything, maybe a
jammed finger and actually thought that is what it was,” Prescott said. “Told
the trainers the same thing, I can’t grip (the ball), I feel like if you yank
it, I’ll be OK. Came in and got X-rays, and things are different.”
Prescott
said he will see a doctor Monday and have surgery after that. He said he was
told after the X-rays that the injury “was much cleaner than it could have
been.”
Cowboys
owner Jerry Jones said the injury is above his thumb, and behind the joint, and
he pointed to an area between his own thumb and wrist.
Prescott’s
2020 season ended in the fifth week because of a gruesome ankle injury. He
returned last season to throw for 4,449 yards and 37 touchdowns as the Cowboys
won the NFC East before losing their first-round playoff game to San Francisco
at home.
The
29-year-old Prescott said he got into the best shape of his life going into
this season, his seventh in the NFL.
When there
appeared to be a setback in practice last week, Prescott blamed a change in
cleats for soreness in his surgically repaired ankle.
Prescott and
the Cowboys are dealing with a bigger issue now, after losing the season opener
without scoring a touchdown.
“To be very
candid with you, all of that takes a backseat to the fact that as we go forward
here for the next few weeks, we’ll be going forward without Dak,” Jones said.
“That’s foremost on my mind.”
Jones
reiterated that while Prescott will be out “several games,” he would not be out
for the season.
Asked to
characterize his emotions, Prescott said while disappointing and unfortunate,
injuries are not necessarily anything he can control.
“Obviously
going to miss some time and not be there for my team, and that’s what hurts
more than more than anything especially after the start that we just put out
there,” Prescott said. “Wanted to be able to respond and not necessarily having
that opportunity for several weeks, yeah, it’s unfortunate. But I’ll do what
I’ve always done any time adversity comes, take it on headfirst and I’ll give
my best and I’m sure I’ll come out of this thing better.”
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