The Cowboys’ Dak Prescott news keeps getting worse — and now it involves a potential season-ending surgery.
Prescott, who exited their loss Sunday, plans to undergo season-ending surgery for a partially torn hamstring and is traveling to consult with a specialist in New York, ESPN reported.
If he opts for the surgery, it’d reportedly keep Prescott out for four months, which would extend past the end of the season even if the Cowboys managed to reverse their 3-5 start, sneak into the playoffs and reach the Super Bowl.
But that, given the circumstances, seems highly unlikely.
Prescott didn’t play in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ loss to the Falcons on Sunday, exiting with a hamstring injury that was serious enough for owner Jerry Jones to say he was “concerned” immediately following the game.
The tenor surrounding his status — both in the short-term for Sunday’s showdown with NFC East rival Eagles and for the rest of their season — kept shifting throughout the week, with NFL Network reporting Monday that Prescott was expected to miss multiple weeks.
Then, a trip to injured reserve appeared likely, with a partially torn hamstring — who described it as something he’s “never felt before” — emerging as the diagnosis for the 31-year-old and Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones hinting during a radio segment Friday that his season could be over in a worst-case scenario.
“I felt it when I was getting up from the run,” Prescott said of his injury, according to the team website. “I can’t even say I felt it running. Maybe it was the tackle or something on the tackle. When I was standing up from that, I felt something but didn’t think it was much. It was a physical game and, a lot of times, you feel different things and then they go away.”
This one, though, didn’t, and a Cowboys season already reaching the level of underwhelming and teetering on the brink of disaster could certainly get worse.
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Prescott has collected 1,978 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season, with the Cowboys struggling and spiraling even before they lost the star quarterback who became the highest-paid player in NFL history when he signed a four-year, $240 million extension before their season opened with a win.
“It’s about holding up my end of the deal,” Prescott told reporters following the Week 1 win.
But now, just 2-5 since that 33-7 blowout win against the Browns, Dallas salvaging its season will hinge on the performance of backup Cooper Rush, who has started six games across his NFL career.
Prescott guiding the Cowboys back to the playoffs and attempting to secure an elusive Super Bowl title for the franchise will need to wait another year.
