FRISCO, Texas – Dak Prescott threw his last meaningful pass in over 200 days in the Dallas Cowboys’ round-robin loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
In the seven months since, Prescott’s 15 interceptions in 12 regular season games in 2022 — and two more in the playoffs — has been a constant topic of conversation. It didn’t seem to matter that in his first six seasons Prescott had no more than 13 interceptions or an interception percentage higher than 2.7%.
It doesn’t matter that he threw 23 touchdown passes in those 12 games or that he won eight of his next 12 games, with two losses in overtime, including one pass that was returned for the winning touchdown by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Prescott knows the drill.
“We’re a moot point,” Prescott said in mid-July during a break in his youth soccer camp. “When you find something to talk about, that’s the first thing you go for. Like I said before, I know who I am.”
And Prescott, who missed five games last season with a broken thumb, also knows that 2023 is important. He is entering his eighth season as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback. Less than a week into training camp, he’s 30 years old. He only has two more years left on his contract, and while there has been talk of a possible extension, there have been no in-depth negotiations yet between the two sides.
There is urgency.
“I mean 1,000%, not just the injuries, they’re what I’ve been through my entire career,” said Prescott. “[It’s] understand time. You don’t have forever to play this game.”
Prescott will work in a new scheme for the first time in his career under head coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. It will have some similarities to offense coordinators Scott Linehan and Kellen Moore who were hired from 2016 to 2022 along with McCarthy’s West Coast background. Prescott and the quarterback coined “Texas Coast” to describe the blended offense.
“He certainly doesn’t need to be fixed,” Schottenheimer said of Prescott. “There’s no doubt about it. The guy’s a great player. … I mean, he’s going to get out there and he’s going to compete—”I can make that throw.” He’s just got to understand the game situations and the fall and the distance, all that stuff, and clean up some of the decisions he knows last year that he kind of missed.”
This isn’t the first time Schottenheimer has had to make the decision with a midfielder.
“One of my early experiences as a coordinator was with the Jets, 2008, and I was coaching Brett Favre. You guys saw Brett play. He’d force a ball into traffic. There’d be like three guys waiting for it, and one of the three was going to catch it. He’d come over and I’d be, ‘Dude, what are you doing?'” And he would say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh bad.” I’d be, “Okay. We’re good.” I’d get up to leave and go, “Hey shotty, I can do this throw. I can do that.” I was like, “Dude, that’s not the point. Yes, you can. You can do that sometimes.”
“So it’s a bit of a competitive spirit. These guys, they’ve got all of that. Again, Duck likes some of the stuff we’re doing from training footwork and timing and some tempo stuff, tying the roads with his feet. We expect him to have a huge year.”
McCarthy’s first season as head coach of the Green Bay Packers came after Favre led the NFL in interceptions with 29 in 2005. In 2006, Favre had 18 interceptions despite six more pass attempts. From 2008 to 2018, Aaron Rodgers has had more than 10 interceptions in a season twice. He had the lowest interception percentage in the NFL four times.
“People don’t throw a lot of interceptions in today’s game,” Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said. “[If] If you roll out two numbers, then this is alarming.
Personally, I wasn’t interested in that [the interceptions] And I don’t think cowboys are either. And I hope Dak isn’t either, because people like to say that every interception has its own story, which is true, but I didn’t think Dak was reckless with football.”
Prescott made 97 regular season and five playoff starts. He tallied 61 wins and led the Cowboys to the playoffs four times with two playoff victories. Holds the franchise record for touchdown passes in a season (37). He is second in touchdown passes behind Tony Romo and third in passing yards behind Romo and Aikman in Cowboys history.
Recently, ESPN polled league executives, coaches, scouts, and players to rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions, and Prescott ranked ninth among quarterbacks after finishing in tenth last year.
“When the picture changes, he suffers,” said one coach. “It has always been this way.”
“He just doesn’t read it well,” said an NFC pro scout and “needs guys around him,” while Prescott added that he seems to be pressing after returning from a thumb injury. Another offensive coordinator wondered if he trusted his receivers too much.
Another said, “He’s a guy you can win with. I’m not worried about interceptions because that wasn’t his thing.”
The former personnel manager said, “It’s more in [Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk] Cousins class, where he needs help.”
The form of the Cowboys’ help for Prescott this season is the addition of receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade from the Houston Texans and the return of Michael Gallup to full health. They’re also hoping a group of tight ends with Jake Ferguson, rookie sophomore Luke Schoonmaker and Peyton Hendershot will be what Dalton Schultz, who signed with the Texans, previously was to Prescott.
But the biggest form of help is the change McCarthy will bring.
“There are many things that, when you’re trying to improve, you can work on, and in this case, if you want to address objections, you can address protection,” said owner and general manager Jerry Jones. “You can address aspects of the running game. You can address, certainly, from the background [the] Routes, shorts, and you can limit how much of the field in any given game the quarterback tries to cover. … All of these things should stick to faster versions, which gives us a better chance of blocking them.”
McCarthy’s history with quarterbacks dates back to Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs in 1995. In 2003, when he was the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator, Aaron Brooks had the lowest interception percentage in the NFL. For 13 seasons in Green Bay, Favre and Rodgers coached.
When McCarthy came to the Cowboys in 2020, he kept Moore as the play-by-play caller, believing him best for Prescott’s development. Now, McCarthy is returning to the role he feels most comfortable in and believes would be best for Prescott.
“I love the way Duck challenged us mentally, and more importantly, I love the way he attacked her,” said McCarthy. “I wouldn’t say I didn’t know that about him, but I think like all of us, you really don’t know until you really go out and hit and push. He really handled those changes and tweaks and entries… I want smart quarterbacks who are Hall of Fame-type, and the only way to get there is if you get them to own the offense—and you see it.”
how? Through the questions he asks in the meeting rooms and the directions he gives in the field. During the teaching sessions, Prescott asked what McCarthy wanted a particular look to be called. McCarthy said it was up to Prescott. After the first organized group activity, McCarthy told Prescott to get rid of the things he didn’t like. Prescott did.
When camp begins, the process takes another step, and the hope is that by September 10, when the Cowboys open the regular season against the New York Giants, the coach and quarterback are so connected that one knows exactly what the other wants.
The total number of interceptions decreases.
“I’m stressed,” Prescott said. “I’m challenged in ways I may not have encountered before, but it’s amazing.”