Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was taken out of the game late in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons with a hamstring injury, leading Cooper Rush to finish it off in the 27-21 loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
While there was some optimism surrounding Prescott's injury, MRI results revealed that it is worse than first thought, with Dak now set to miss multiple weeks.
That, of course, now leads to an important conversation regarding who will take over.
Will it be Cooper Rush or Trey Lance? Given Dallas' predicament and the season almost over, one could make a case for the Cowboys to give Lance as many reps as possible.
But head coach Mike McCarthy revealed that it will be the Cooper Rush show against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"It really doesn’t change anything for us,” McCarthy said. “Even speaking with Dak earlier, this is about the quarterback room. We’ve always invested the time and energy into the quarterback, so now it’s Cooper’s turn, and Dak will be part of that process and we will rally around him and make sure we do everything we can to make sure he’s prepared, and we’ll just keep going about it how we’ve gone about it. We have great confidence in Cooper.”
So that settles it, right?
But that doesn't end the debate, with some thinking Lance could be used on some read-option plays to get him some reps. In fact, CowboysCountry.com's own Mike Fisher, a Cowboys beat writer, thinks Dallas is obliged to play Rush and Lance for "three reasons.''
From Fish: "The easy answer vs. the Eagles is that the Cowboys should play BOTH Cooper Rush AND Trey Lance. Both should be in the gameplan - maybe even on field at same time. And why?
1 - "Learn about Lance. (This coaching staff really still has no full idea of what he is.)
2 - "Pull out all the stops. (The Cowboys are seven-point underdogs at home and won't be favored in a game again for a long time.)
3 - "Inject some fun into this funeral. ( I bet a Trey trick' would be infinitely more productive than this team's weird insistence on running gimmick plays to C.J. Goodwin.)''
McCarthy, for his part, stated that Lance needs to get some game action ... someday.
“Trey Lance just needs to play,” McCarthy added. “He’s ready to go to that two spot. We trust this quarterback room.”
Maybe the Cowboys, who have one eye on 2025, should use the next few weeks and possibly more, depending on what happens with Dak, to see what they have in Lance. But it won't be about "upping his value''; he's out of contract after this year (as is Rush), so why would Dallas want to make him more expensive to keep?
But while fans clearly want to see Lance start, it's that Rush will start against the Eagles, with Lance serving as his backup. ... and if Fish gets his way, maybe a little more.
