Will Injury Impact How Dak Prescott Plays? Cowboys Quarterback Explains

It’s not uncommon for dual-threat quarterbacks to change the way they play as they advance deeper into their respective NFL careers.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott acknowledged that he might need to join that grouping. As you’ll certainly remember, Prescott suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 against the New York Giants. It came on a quarterback draw as the mobile signal-caller pushed off one defender, went around the left side, and was tackled by Giants cornerback Logan Ryan.

Prescott, who expressed he was “healthy” Wednesday, missed the remainder of the season as his Cowboys finished third in the NFC East with a 6-10 overall record. And now, to limit the chance it happens again, the 27-year-old signal-caller knows how he will have to play “smarter.”

“Before the injury, going back to high school, I was told to be smarter on when I want to demonstrate my physicality or when I want to try to make a point in the game or change the momentum,” Prescott told reporters Wednesday during a press conference to announce his four-year, $160 million contract.

“That’s no different. I have to be smarter,” Prescott added. “With this investment, with my health being jeopardized at a certain point, it makes a whole lot more sense to me about being smarter and why people have said that. Back in the day as a young bull, I guess it was very hard to understand. Now, I mean, on a play like that, first down, you’re going down. You’re sliding.”

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Prescott has made a few of his most clutch plays on the ground. Look no further than an incredible third-down conversion during the 2018 NFC Wild Card Game against the Seattle Seahawks when he picked up 16 yards on third-and-14 and helped Dallas claim the win.

It seem those sorts of runs, with the game or season on the line, will keep their own reserved spot.

“But to say that the game’s on the line, it’s a first down, or it’s the red zone, and I’m going there, that’s who I am,” Prescott said. “I don’t know if I can ever tone that down.”

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who is giving Prescott $126 million guaranteed on the new contract, explained that he was happy to hear the 2016 fourth-rounder acknowledge that change to his game.

But Jones, as much as anyone, probably would be fine if Prescott puts his head down in pursuit of the end zone if it means the Cowboys qualify or advance in the postseason.