“Something I’ve never felt before”

ATLANTA – Good things rarely happen in North Georgia for Dak Prescott. Anyone who knows about the “Burning of Atlanta” can immediately conjure up evidence of this, seeing the All-Pro quarterback sidelined with injury after doing his best to get the Dallas Cowboys to a win against the Falcons , was the latest unfortunate event for him at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Late in the third quarter, Prescott dropped back to throw a pass and appeared to grimace during the throw without a defender making contact.

He was subsequently examined in the medical tent for a possible injury to his throwing hand, but was sidelined due to a hamstring injury that prevented him from returning to the game.

Cooper Rush was sent in to take the lead on the first offensive attack in the fourth quarter.

“I have to look at it,” Prescott said of his status before explaining what happened. “I felt it on the third play, a little scrum to the left. To be honest, I didn't think much about it, and then on the next play – throwing the stop route – something pulled. It was something I had never tried walking on at that point, and then I sought out the medical team and asked if I could make it worse [by continuing].

“At that point they said I couldn’t protect myself and called to pull me out.”

The Cowboys failed to secure the victory in Atlanta as Prescott could only watch from the sidelines.

“Very difficult,” he said of not being able to finish a must-win game. “I know how much we needed this. I just wanted to go out and compete and fight. It’s crazy.”

And to be clear, Prescott doesn't believe the scramble caused the hamstring injury.

Overall, he's not sure what happened.

“I felt it when I got up from running. I can't even say I felt it while running. Maybe it was the tackle or something about the tackle. When I got up from there I felt something but not I don't think it was a physical game and often you feel other things and then they disappear. On the right side I felt something I had never felt before .

“From then on it was hard to move on.”

Prescott missed several games in 2022 due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand, the most time he has missed since suffering a catastrophic ankle injury that ended his 2020 season. He was available for all 17 regular-season games in 2023, delivered his first All-Pro season and was named runner-up for NFL MVP, trailing only Lamar Jackson in the voting.

It's unknown how much playing time he could miss over the remainder of the 2024 season, but any playing time would be a devastating blow to the Cowboys' already starved offense.

This is especially true after CeeDee Lamb, the record-setting All-Pro wide receiver, had to leave the game with a shoulder injury that also puts his status going forward into question.

“It's going to take a lot to get me out of there, I'll tell you that,” Prescott said.

The Cowboys are officially holding their breath for good news on both counts this week.