Dak Prescott’s future with the Cowboys is up in the air as he moves toward the season without a contract extension, but it hasn’t been an obstacle to his preparation over the last few months.
That was the message from head coach Mike McCarthy when he spoke to reporters from the team’s minicamp on Wednesday. McCarthy said he thinks that the quality of the work that Prescott has done in the team’s offseason workouts is the best that he’s seen since being hired by the Cowboys in 2020.
“I think Dak is having his best offseason program that we’ve had,” McCarthy said, via the team’s website. “This atmosphere that we’ve practiced in with the quarterback and receivers has really hit the mark. I’ve been very impressed with the quality of work. . . . With the quarterback, when the connection is there in the perimeter realm – and that’s been the majority of our physical activity — the connection is better. The receivers are playing with more urgency, more reps. The timing is better. The real test will be when we get to training camp.”
Prescott also held a press conference on Wednesday and he said he agrees with McCarthy’s take on his offseason. The quarterback said it is because of “what this game means to me” and also said that the whole unit has benefitted from the experience that comes from spending last season with McCarthy calling the offensive shots.
“The growth in my play and the jump I’m making is the second year in his offense as well, being more comfortable with the footwork,” Prescott said. “The receivers around me, their second year in it, they’re more comfortable, they’re more confident. Things are just faster off the line from the huddle through the play to the scramble drill when it doesn’t work, we are truly understanding, everybody understands, I guess. It just makes the communication, my approach and allowing me to play with more confidence.”
Prescott is one of several Cowboys who don’t know where they’ll be next offseason, but that doesn’t seem to be keeping him from trying to make the most of this one.