Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys will reportedly have one of their key weapons for Sunday's marquee NFC East showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, tight end Dalton Schultz "should be good to go" for the game as long as there are no setbacks even though he "reaggravated his sprained PCL" during the team's Week 5 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Durability has been something of a concern for the veteran tight end considering he already missed the Cowboys' Week 3 win over the New York Giants with a knee injury.

Dallas relied on Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot at tight end during that game and won the game 23-16. The rushing attack was key in that victory, with Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard combining for 178 yards on the ground.

It seems like Schultz should be available against the Eagles, and perhaps this will be the game in which he rediscovers his form. He has just nine catches for 80 yards and zero touchdowns through four games as he deals with the knee concerns.

That production is a far cry from last season, when he posted 78 catches for 808 yards and eight scores, which were all career-high marks. He also impressed in 2020 with 63 catches for 615 yards and four touchdowns.

Fortunately for the Cowboys, they haven't suffered in the standings even though Schultz hasn't been as productive and quarterback Dak Prescott has been sidelined since suffering a thumb injury during a Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

They are 4-1 on the season and one game behind the undefeated Eagles in the NFC East standings. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush is 4-0 as a starter after winning his only start during the 2021 campaign.

While Prescott, who is a two-time Pro Bowler, will surely be the starter when he returns to health, Rush's ability to keep the team afloat even without Schultz as a major contributor figures to pay off by the end of the season.

That is especially the case if the tight end is healthy and returns to form, giving the team another offensive weapon for the stretch run.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb missed Thursday's practice with a groin injury but dismissed any long-term worries.

"I'm fine," he told reporters. "We're good. ... I don't want to scare nobody."

Lamb entered the 2022 season as the clear No. 1 wideout for the Cowboys after they traded veteran Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns during the offseason.

Through four games this season, Lamb has racked up 23 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns.

After a solid rookie year, the Oklahoma product enjoyed a strong sophomore season in 2021 and finished with 79 catches for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns. He led the Cowboys with 120 targets, establishing a strong rapport with quarterback Dak Prescott.

Lamb was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career as a replacement for Los Angeles Rams wideout Cooper Kupp.

If Lamb did miss time, it would be another significant blow to the team's offense. Prescott is still out while recovering from thumb surgery. The Cowboys also lost left tackle Tyron Smith to a hamstring injury in training camp that required surgery.

Fortunately for Dallas and fantasy players relying on him, it doesn't seem like he will.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will be present at his team's practice Wednesday as he works his way back from a fractured right thumb, but he isn't expected to participate in a "substantial way."

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported:

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy also offered an update during his Wednesday press conference:

The 29-year-old is in his seventh NFL season. He is coming off his best individual campaign, in which he notched career-high marks with a 68.8 percent completion rate and 37 touchdown passes. The Cowboys also had the top-scoring offense in the NFL under his leadership last season.

Unfortunately, Prescott's 2022 campaign has seen him sidelined because of the fractured right thumb, which he suffered in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has missed three games because of the ailment.

The two-time Pro Bowler previously told Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today on Sept. 26 that he was looking toward Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams as his return game. That matchup will go down on Sunday.

Cooper Rush has stepped in as the team's starter and led Dallas to a 3-0 record under his watch, with a 60.8 completion rate, four touchdowns (zero interceptions) and 737 passing yards. He will start if Prescott can't participate Sunday. Will Grier has been the team's backup.

If Prescott is unavailable for the Rams matchup, his next chance to play will be Oct. 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Cooper Rush's journey as starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys isn't over just yet.

Rush is expected to start Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams while Dak Prescott continues to recover from a thumb injury, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

Prescott told reporters last week he was eyeing a return to the field against the Rams.

The two-time Pro Bowler injured his thumb in a Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has been sidelined since. He underwent surgery, and his initial recovery timeline was between six and eight weeks.

That timeline would have Prescott returning as soon as Oct. 30 against the Chicago Bears or Nov. 13 against the Green Bay Packers following Dallas' bye week.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday that Prescott is still struggling to grip a football "well enough to play," per Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today. However, he added that the veteran signal-caller is progressing well in his recovery:

“Well, I know that it’s better. And I know he’s going to go out there every day and make progress toward being able to grip the ball. I don’t know that you can ask for better news, technically, physically, and how it’s responding, how it’s healing, so to speak. … Considering the injury, the location of the injury, I don’t know that you could make any more progress.”

Rush has been excellent in Prescott's absence, winning all three games he has started to propel the Cowboys to a 3-1 record. He has completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 737 yards and four touchdowns in that span.

The 28-year-old went undrafted out of Central Michigan and has been with the Cowboys since 2017. He has appeared in 14 games across his five seasons in Dallas, mainly as a backup.

Will Grier is slated to backup Rush on Sunday.

Dak Prescott has been ruled out for the Dallas Cowboys' Week 5 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, and despite backup Cooper Rush leading the team to a 3-1 record in his stead, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday there was no scenario in which they stick with him over a healthy Prescott.

"No. No," he said. "As I see it right today."

Jones added on 105.3 The Fan that Prescott still couldn't grip the ball well enough to return to game action as he recovers from the fractured right thumb he suffered in Week 1.

"I don't know that you could make any more progress," Jones said of Prescott's recovery. "He'll have a big week, and he'll be hard on himself, getting ready to go. That's all I can say."

"I really don't know that I'd call that throwing what he's doing," he added. "But he's certainly got movement. I wouldn't know if he's throwing at a level that you can say the grip and everything again is effectively a good throw, normal passing throw."

With Prescott down, the 28-year-old Rush has led the Cowboys to a 3-0 record as the team's starter, throwing for 737 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 60.8 percent of his passes and taking four sacks.

Wins over the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants and Washington Commanders have the Cowboys just one game back of the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles (4-0), with a Week 6 showdown between the teams looming.

Rush, to his credit, has cited the defense as the main reason the Cowboys have reeled off three wins in a row:

Up next for Rush and that defense will be a big test against the defending champion Rams, who are smarting after getting smacked around by their rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, in a 24-9 loss on Monday night.

To this point, Prescott's injury hasn't put the Cowboys in a hole they'll have a tough time escaping. But the next two weeks will be big tests, regardless of who is under center.

Backup quarterback Cooper Rush's unexpectedly strong performance won't alter the Dallas Cowboys' plan for Dak Prescott's recovery.

"At the end of the day, this is all about when he thinks he can go and when he thinks he can throw the football at a level that we need him to throw it at to have success and win football games," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday on 105.3 The Fan's The K&C Masterpiece. "Certainly, you feel better about it when he's not ready yet that we’ve been able to have these wins, you don't want to be naive like that."

Jones added that the team's overall success may lead Prescott to be even more cautious.

"Cooper Rush and this team have all stepped up, all his teammates have stepped up and done their part to win three football games, and I’m sure it helps everybody," he said. "It helps Dak … to not do something [when] he knows he may not be quite ready yet to go."

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio posited the opposite could prove true, arguing that Rush's production and the praise it has garnered "won’t make Prescott any less anxious." Along that line of thinking, the two-time Pro Bowler could push to get back on the field before he should.

For the Cowboys, this is the best possible outcome.

Rush hasn't been prolific in place of Prescott, but he has already engineered two game-winning drives while avoiding the kind of costly mistakes you'd expect from a backup quarterback. He has completed 60.8 percent of his passes while throwing for 737 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. His 74.0 QBR is the fourth-highest in the league, per ESPN.com.

Even though Prescott's window to return (four to six weeks) was better than first thought, nobody could blame fans for panicking at the time. Dallas slumped to a 6-10 finish in 2020 when Prescott was limited to five games, and the offensive personnel on this squad might be worse than it was two seasons ago.

However, the Cowboys are only one game back of the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East. That's not down solely to Rush, but he's certainly a reason why the franchise is on track to reach the postseason.

Dak Prescott remains out with a thumb injury, but he's looking good off the field.

The Dallas Cowboys quarterback got himself a new custom chain worth about $100,000, per TMZ Sports:

Jason of Beverly Hills made the custom piece, which features 35 carats of diamonds.

The next challenge for Prescott—who signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension in 2021—is getting back on the field after a Week 1 injury that required thumb surgery. He's hoping to return for Week 5, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is reportedly eyeing Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams for his return from thumb surgery, according to ESPN''s Adam Schefter.

Schefter reported Prescott is "progressing nicely," though it remains possible the team holds him out an additional week to ensure he's 100 percent recovered from his fractured thumb.

Prescott had a rough start to the 2022 season. He went 14-of-29 for 134 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after his team's 19-3 loss that the quarterback would "be out a while" with a thumb injury, which happened when Bucs defender Shaq Barrett inadvertently hit his hand while trying to break up a pass attempt.

After the two-time Pro Bowler underwent surgery on Sept. 12, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported the initial timetable for him to return was four to six weeks.

Jones said during a Sept. 13 appearance on 105.3 The Fan (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk) that Prescott wouldn't be placed on injured reserve.

"We want him to be in consideration for playing within the next four games," he said. "... We feel better about it than we did Sunday night."

Cooper Rush will start his third straight game under center on Sunday. He won his first career start in 2021 when Prescott was out with an injury. He went 24-of-40 for 325 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in a 20-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8.

After taking over for Prescott in Week 1 this season, the 28-year-old finished 7-of-13 for 64 yards trying to get the Cowboys back in the game. He followed that up by leading them to back-to-back wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants.

Dallas Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz is reportedly set to return from a knee injury for Sunday's Week 4 game against the Washington Commanders.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported Saturday that Schultz is "expected to play" despite being listed as questionable on the Cowboys' official injury report.

The fifth-year tight end missed Monday night's win over the New York Giants because of the PCL issue. He'd recorded nine catches for 80 yards through Dallas' first two games.

Schultz, a 2018 fourth-round pick out of Stanford, enjoyed a breakout season in 2021 with 78 receptions for 808 yards and eight touchdowns, all of which represented career highs.

His Week 3 absence was part of an up-and-down start to the campaign for the Cowboys (2-1), who remain without quarterback Dak Prescott after he suffered a thumb injury in the team's season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The 26-year-old Utah native previously discussed how battling through adversity has been a key talking point for the organization.

"The way I see it, it's just a storm," Schultz told reporters. "You've got two choices: You can run away from the storm or you can run right into it. I know myself included and everybody in our locker room is going to run right into that motherf--ker. That's just our approach."

Getting him back alongside CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup, who's set to make his season debut after recovering from a torn ACL, will give fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush a full complement of weapons for the NFC East clash.

That's a promising sign as Dallas prepares to face a Washington defense that's struggled in the early going, ranking 26th in total defense (402.7 yards allowed per game) and 28th in scoring defense (27.3 points allowed per game) during its 1-2 start.

Sunday's kickoff at AT&T Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Fox.