The biggest talking points of the offseason for the Dallas Cowboys have centered around one man, Dak Prescott. First, it was whether or not he would land the long-term deal he had been seeking for nearly two years, and that was taken care of in March when he landed his four-year, $160 million dollar deal. The other big question was when would he make his return to the field.
Prescott sat down with ESPN's Sage Steele for an interview that aired this past Sunday and made it clear that he had no worries about his surgically repaired right ankle. On Monday, the Cowboys began OTAs and the most welcoming sight was to see No. 4 back taking snaps and slinging the ball around.
We're here 4️⃣ this‼️ @dak pic.twitter.com/aq85GRp0eq
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) May 24, 2021
Prescott mentioned to Steele the different emotions he felt once he realized how had his injury was.
“I actually thought I rolled my ankle, I actually thought that's all that happened,” Prescott said. “And when I was on the ground, I looked over to see if my ankle was rolled, it was facing the other way. At the time, I'm in shock. I mean, thank God for the shock of not being able to feel the pain, but at that moment I just wanted to get off the field so bad and I couldn't. And it wasn't until my teammates came over to tap me on the shoulder, tell me it's going to be ok, they love me, was when I lost it because I haven't missed much time in the game of football. But to know at that moment that it was gone, it was tough.”
Before Prescott suffered his gruesome injury last season he was having a career year, to say the least. His 1,856 yards (371 yards per game) led the NFL and he was completing 68% of his passes with a 99.6 quarterback rating. Also, he became the first quarterback in league history with three consecutive games of 450 yards passing or more.
It was a continuation of what he did the previous year when he had career highs in yards (4,902) and touchdown passes (30).
With a healthy offensive line and a bevy of weapons to spread the ball around to, Prescott could have his best year yet in 2021. Not just because it'll be his first full season with this kind of firepower around him, but he'll be highly motivated to prove he can come back better than ever and validate the Cowboy's decision to pay him long-term.
“Dear adversity, thank you for the opportunity,” Prescott said, via his Instagram account.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection and former Offensive Rookie of the Year worked diligently to get to this point, 225 days to be exact. Now, he can focus on being the best version of himself on the football field yet.
