Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is entering a pivotal season.
Prescott experienced incredible success over his first six seasons in the league, including winning the 2016 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award and earning two Pro Bowl nods while taking his team to the postseason three times.
However, in Year 7, Prescott and the offense did not perform at the same level in 2022, forcing several internal changes he believes will help him in 2023.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in just understanding who we are, who this team is, what the front office has done in bringing some additions, the changes in coaching, and [head coach] Mike [McCarthy] calling the plays,” he told CBS 11 DFW on Wednesday. “It’s been fun. The spring was fun, then the last two weeks of training camp, I’ve had more fun playing this game than I have in a long time.”
“It’s exciting, and it’s something we continue to build on each day to make sure we hit the season with a full stride.”
Despite putting up the worst numbers of his career as his season was partially derailed by injury, the eighth-year quarterback still holds the key to Dallas’ success.
“When I look at Dak, I think he’s entering that phase of his career [where] he has a complete understanding of the offense…but where he is today is — because of all the changes we have made — he just needs reps,” McCarthy told the media before Thursday’s practice in Oxnard, CA. “I thought he crushed it, him and the other quarterbacks in the offseason with all the extra things that we put on their plates in the area of protection and the passing game.”
“…I feel good about him there, but he just needs to continue to get these reps and so forth,” McCarthy continued. “Because at the end of the day, the master of the offense is what gives us the best chance to be who we are, and he’s definitely right there and ready to take off.”
The changes to Dallas’ offensive system will not be drastic. With McCarthy taking over the play-calling duties, he has sought to further implement the concepts from the existing offense that Prescott has used well since the head coach arrived in 2020.
“The goal was — because at the end of the day, there’s so much responsibility on the quarterback position — to build off the concepts that were in place,” McCarthy explained. “…We went back and looked at all the concepts he’s had, and he had some input once we were able to get together with him. If we needed it, great. If not, we moved on. He’s played a tremendous amount of football, and it was critical for us to build on that.”
The changes have players, especially Prescott, fired up for the upcoming season, and the competitiveness between the offense and defense in training camp has only increased the team’s confidence.
“The way that Mike calls the plays and just the way that this team and understanding how great our defense is, each day at practice has been tough, but that’s the fun part about it,” Prescott told CBS 11. “It’s iron sharpening iron, and each time we’re competing with those guys, it feels like a game environment. I think, when you can do that as much as we can, it’s only going to help us get better.”
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EXTRA POINTS
— Cornerback Trevon Diggs has tried to provide more context on his argument with Dak Prescott on the practice field earlier this week.
— Former NFL running back and current Fox Sports analyst LeSean McCoy believes the argument is a sign that the Cowboys do not respect Prescott.
— Former Dallas Cowboys Chuck Howley, DeMarcus Ware, and Zach Thomas will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.
— Former Texas A&M standout and current Cincinnati Bengals running back Trayveon Williams suffered a sprained ankle this week and is expected to miss time.
— The Cleveland Browns and Pro Football Hall of Fame held a “Celebration of Life” for Hall of Fame Browns running back Jim Brown, who died earlier this year.
