In a 2024 season in which the injury bug hit the Dallas Cowboys hard, the loss of their quarterback Dak Prescott midseason was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Fortunately for Dallas, Prescott doesn't anticipate the hamstring injury that ended his season will cost him any more game time going forward, saying Saturday that he feels confident he'll be back on the field at minimum by Week 1.
"I'm not gonna put a timeline on it, but I'll be ready for the first game and when anything matters and very, very ready," Prescott said, via the team website. "I'm feeling good. I'm doing more and more. The last two weeks have been huge and progressive for me."
Prescott's new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, has been more than happy with his QB's road to recovery at this point.
"He's doing great, kicking ass with rehab," Schottenheimer said in a recent interview on Sirius XM NFL Radio. "Everything with that's going great."
Prescott started the 2024 season on a high note, signing a contract extension ahead of the season opener to make him the highest-paid quarterback in the league. But once the games started, things went awry for Dallas. The Cowboys had a 3-5 record through Week 9, when Prescott suffered a significant hamstring injury, and the team continued on without him to a 7-10 record.
Prescott was diagnosed with a partial tendon avulsion, meaning the hamstring pulled partway off the bone, and after seeking multiple opinions he and the Cowboys opted to take the cautious approach to recovery, with Prescott having surgery in mid-November.
The procedure was initially reported to involve an approximately three month recovery, though the process of ramping back up to an NFL level of play is obviously a more nebulous timeline.
As for how he assesses his health right now, Prescott expressed optimism with his progress even though he's not 100 percent just yet.
"I wouldn't say I'm running full speed yet," he added. "But everything's on the right track, and I'm excited."
It remains to be seen at what point Prescott will start participating in offseason activities in part or in full, with the first offseason workouts for teams with a new head coach beginning April 7. That will be followed by organized team activities, minicamps, and then training camp as spring turns to summer and the season draws nearer.
With the Cowboys facing the task of rebounding from their 2024 campaign under the tutelage of Schottenheimer, they'll want as much time as possible for Prescott to practice on the field with his teammates. So far he appears on track, with Prescott unworried about his availability for the most important deadline and Schottenheimer excited about his QB1's prospects for a pivotal 2025 season.
"He and I are very close, we see the game the same way," Schottenheimer said. "We're definitely going to make some adjustments and there's things that he's really gonna like. I really do think that this is a guy that there's no question can win a championship. He can lead us to a championship; I think he's gonna lead us to a championship. That's the goal. And it's not just as a player, he's an incredible player, but the person, the leader is just different."
