Dallas City News

Cowboys’ Dak Prescott expected to miss several weeks, source says – Todd Archer, ESPN

Cowboys fans are asking themselves if there will be anything left to play for when Dak Prescott is healthy again?

Coach Mike McCarthy said the Cowboys were prepared to say only that Prescott will miss Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles with a right hamstring injury, although a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Prescott is expected to miss several weeks.

Prescott is in the process of getting a second opinion, and once that information is finalized, the Cowboys could discuss the possibility of putting him on injured reserve. If they make that move, he would be out until Dec. 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The immediate focus is on the Eagles with Cooper Rush as the starting quarterback.

“It really doesn’t change anything with us. Even speaking with Dak earlier, this is about the quarterback room. We’ve always invested all the time and energy into the quarterback, Dak, that has the football,” McCarthy said. “So now it’s Cooper’s turn, and Dak will be part of that process. We’ll rally around him and make sure that we do everything we can to make sure that he’s prepared. We’ll just keep going about it the way we’ve gone about it.”

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder after he was injured in the second half against the Falcons. Lamb has missed just one game in his career due to injury. He is also getting more evaluations, but McCarthy was optimistic.

If Lamb plays against the Eagles, it will be with serious pain in his shoulder. He suffered his injury on a 10-yard reception in the second quarter against the Falcons. He continued to play but then landed on it again in the fourth quarter while trying for a diving catch in the end zone.

Cowboys optimistic Micah Parsons will return this week – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk

The Cowboys desperately need a home win against a division rival, and having Micah Parsons back would go a long way.

The Cowboys, though, are optimistic about getting another star player back this week.

Edge rusher Micah Parsons “should be back” for Sunday’s game against the Eagles, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Parsons was diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain during the Cowboys’ victory over the Giants on Sept. 26. They did not put him on injured reserve, hoping he could return sooner than four games, with an off week in Week 7.

Parsons, though, has missed four games.

The Cowboys have missed him, with their other starting defensive end, DeMarcus Lawrence, also out. Lawrence is on injured reserve.

Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott Will Be Available vs. Eagles After Disciplinary Benching – Andrew Peters, Bleacher Report

Ezekiel Elliott will return for Week 10.

“Zeke couldn’t make the trip,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on the pregame show for the team’s radio network (h/t Bell). “He was being punished. I know Zeke is the first to recognize the discipline involved in meetings.”

Archer noted last week that Sunday was the first time Elliot had been a healthy scratch from the lineup in a game when the Cowboys’ playoff positioning has not been decided.

Since returning to Dallas on a one-year deal after a year with the New England Patriots, Elliot hasn’t had the season he hoped for. He has just 149 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns and is on pace for a career-low in rushing yards.

In his last season with the Cowboys in 2022, Elliot had 876 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, a much more productive version of himself than Dallas got this season.

McCarthy reveals Cowboys’ QB rotation for Rush, Lance in absence of Dak – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

The Cowboys have rallied around Cooper Rush and won games before, but with much more of a supporting cast than he’ll have starting Sunday against the Eagles.

When the Week 10 battle gets underway on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, it’ll be Rush getting the nod as the starter, an expected decision by the Cowboys’ head coach.

“Cooper has played really good football for us,” he said. “I think he’s 5-1 in his opportunities. Like I said, we have great confidence in him.”

McCarthy went on to explain the true value of Rush to the organization and the locker room.

“[That record] goes well beyond 5-1,” he said of his other veteran quarterback. “Cooper Rush is as respected as a backup quarterback as anyone since, I’d say Rich Gannon. He carries that type of credibility. He’s a great teammate. He’s someone you can see the young guys lean on — wicked smart, instinctive and does a great job when he runs the scout team.

“He just does everything the right way. An excellent pro. There will be plenty of confidence in him.

Distractions and a lack of attention to details wreck the Cowboys in Atlanta – LP Cruz, Blogging The Boys

The Cowboys beat themselves as much as their third straight opponent also beat them in Sunday’s 27-21 loss.

Diggs not wrapping up Kyle Pitts to force Atlanta into a punt

Plenty of respect should go to Trevon Diggs for playing. He hadn’t practiced all week, and we discovered following last week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers that Diggs suffered a tear in his calf. Early in the contest, Diggs looked reasonably mobile. Still, Atlanta made it a point to challenge Diggs in coverage, but his tackling hurt the Cowboys. The Cowboys were down 7-3 and were gifted a 3rd-and-14 on defense after a flag was thrown on Falcons’ offensive tackle Jake Matthews for holding. Dallas managed to get Kirk Cousins to check it down short to Kyle Pitts, and all Diggs has to do is wrap up and not let Pitts get additional yards. Instead of making the fundamentally sound tackle, Diggs throws his shoulder into Pitts, who shrugs off the glancing contact to give Cousins a fourth and short. Then this happened:

Even in that sequence, you can see the indecision of who is responsible for which receiver. The Falcons were obviously isolating Diggs, and Cousins saw it, giving the check to his wide receiver. Diggs got lost in the bunch of receivers before being woefully behind the play as Darnell Mooney cruised in for the score. Diggs’ absence of basic football principles opens the door for the worst possible outcome, and he’s the one who’s caught out of position on the scoring play right after.

Game Observations: In a close loss, the little things matter – Mario Herrera Jr., Inside The Star

Mike Zimmer’s defense has been as resilient as possible while dealing with so many starters being out, but they’re also not without blame for inexcusable mistakes that have cost the Cowboys.

11 vs 10

It didn’t take long for the Cowboys to show us that they weren’t going to be prepared for the Falcons’ offense. This time, it was the defense.

Facing a 3rd & 4 from the Cowboys’ 16-yard line on their second drive of the game, the Falcons lined up in a five-wide set. Kirk Cousins sent RB Bijan Robinson in motion to the left and hit him with a swing pass at the snap.

Bijan easily picked up the first down, but upon closer examination, the Cowboys only had 10 players on the field. Up 3-0 with a chance to get the defense off the field, the defense makes a high school-level mistake by not getting all 11 players on the field.

There wasn’t a soul to account for Robinson, and he picked up a first down that eventually led to the first touchdown of the game.