Dak Prescott has decided on surgery for his torn hamstring, ending the season for the franchise quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys when their playoff hopes were already fading fast.
Owner Jerry Jones said Prescott will have the surgery Wednesday in New York. Jones was speaking on his radio show Tuesday.
“His prognosis is wonderful,” Jones said. “It just means we're not going to have him for the rest of the year.”
The decision comes a little more than a week after Prescott injured the hamstring in a 27-21 loss at Atlanta. He was on the sideline for Dallas’ fourth consecutive loss, 34-6 at home to Philadelphia on Sunday.
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The Cowboys (3-6) already knew they would be without last season’s runner-up in NFL MVP voting for at least a month, and were resigned to the outcome that was finalized after Prescott visited one more specialist.
The recovery time is at least three months, about the amount of time former Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith was sidelined after sustaining a similar injury in training camp two years ago.
Prescott’s hamstring was partially torn off the bone, a condition known as partial avulsion. Surgery isn’t always required in such instances, as opposed to the full tear of the bone that Smith sustained.
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It’s the second time in five years that the 31-year-old Prescott will miss more than half the season because of an injury. He broke an ankle in Week 5 of 2020 when Dallas finished 6-10.
The Cowboys, who play Houston (6-4) at home next Monday night, are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The defending NFC East champions finished 12-5 in each of three consecutive playoff seasons.
Prescott wasn’t having a great year when he got hurt. He had 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions for an offense that was in the middle of the pack in the NFL after being among the league’s best in the playoff years.
Cooper Rush started in Prescott’s place against the Eagles but had just 45 yards passing, the fewest for a Dallas starter in a game since Matt Cassel had 37 in another lost season for the Cowboys in 2015.
Rush and Trey Lance, who briefly replaced Rush in the third quarter and came on for good later, combined for 66 passing yards. It’s the fewest for Dallas since a franchise-worst 34 in a 10-6 loss to Tampa Bay in 2001.
Outside AT&T Stadium on Tuesday, Cowboys fans weren’t shy about airing their grievances.
"Disappointed," one fan told NBC 5.
"Oh my goodness, I am hurt," said another. "I don’t know what’s going on with our team this season but I'm praying that they get it together."
Those who cover the Cowboys told NBC 5 that Prescott’s injury has sucked the air out of the team’s season, and the struggles on the field have left many fans checked out.
"It’s honestly kind of a sick enjoyment that some Cowboys fans are getting along with us," said Shan Shariff, host of Shan and RJ on 105.3 The Fan. "See how ugly it can get because they want to see Jerry and Stephen [Jones] kind of get punished for this offseason and some of the arrogance that they had."
The drop in demand has been showing up at the box office.
A study of data from ticket site SeatGeek in September showed Dallas typically has the highest average ticket cost in the NFL at just under 400 dollars.
But this season, that could be changing: ticket prices on SeatGeek for the Cowboys’ next game showed seats available in the upper deck for as low as $60, and the standing-room-only tickets were down to 33 bucks each – less than half what they usually cost.
"People believe that the only true way to get to Jerry is through the pocketbook, through the wallet," said Shariff. "If people are flooding in like that, and the place is absolutely packed, is there a financial incentive to change? There is not."
Analysts said they believed many fans would still make the pilgrimage to AT&T Stadium for the atmosphere of a Dallas Cowboys gameday.
But like one couple from Lubbock found out this weekend, they might not like what they see.
"That was my first game and probably my last," said one woman. "We just wanted to come see the stadium and enjoy the Cowboys game but we couldn’t enjoy it because they suck."
