Cooper Rush held down the fort. But with their top quarterback expected to return to action, the Dallas Cowboys now want to go on the attack.
While Dak Prescott mended from thumb surgery on his throwing hand, the Cowboys went 4-1 with Rush in his place. Dallas (4-2) will look to continue its run of success when it hosts the struggling Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Medically, all systems are go for Prescott, who was injured late in the Cowboys’ season opener.
“Dak’s been cleared to be a full participant,” coach Mike McCarthy said.
Prescott played in a “mock game” with his teammates on Wednesday and plans to take a majority of the first team reps in Thursday’s practice.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re giving him an opportunity to be ready,” McCarthy said.
With a solid running game and defense, the Cowboys didn’t have to lean on Rush too heavily. He never passed for more than 235 yards in any of his starts.
The Prescott injury may have finally caught up to Dallas in its division showdown with Philadelphia on Sunday night, as the Eagles collected a decisive 26-17 victory. Rush was picked off three times.
The Cowboys have only had two pass plays of 40 or more yards this season, and Prescott should be able to change that lack of explosiveness.
“I don’t see us playing much differently than we’ve played. The thing you want to do is just stay the course of what we need to improve on,” McCarthy said. “We need to improve our first down production. We need to get the play count up. We definitely need to get more production in our passing game and that will come with more production on first down and higher conversion rates on third down.”
The Lions (1-4) are coming off a bye with a three-game losing streak. Their offense produced 35 or more points in three of their first four games. Then it fell apart at New England, as the Lions were blanked 29-0.
No. 1 running back D’Andre Swift has missed the last two games due to a shoulder injury. Wide receiver DJ Chark has missed two games due to an ankle issue, and top receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown played against the Patriots and caught four passes for 18 yards while also dealing with an ankle sprain.
“I’m getting better,” St. Brown said. “Ankle sprains, they tend to linger. As long as I’m feeling a little bit better each day, I think I’ll be fine.”
The Lions won’t be able to get the ball to St. Brown and their other playmakers if Jared Goff doesn’t have enough time to throw. The Cowboys lead the league with 24 sacks.
“That is the biggest challenge for us, will be that rush,” coach Dan Campbell said. “Not just handling it, but as much as we can to stay away from it, which means you’ve got to be good on first and second down. You have to be real good.”
Goff has only been sacked seven times.
“I like our O-line, I like our tackles,” Campbell said. “We’ll have a plan. We can’t let those guys (the pass rushers) wreck the game. But yeah, that’s an issue, and it’s caused a lot of teams problems. That’s why this is one of the better defenses in the league.”
Chark was among eight Lions who didn’t practice on Wednesday. Swift was a limited participant.
Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was also limited.
–Field Level Media
