Cooper Rush faces challenge in eighth start filling in for Dak as Cowboys hope for redemption against Texans

Cooper Rush’s eighth career start filling in for Dak Prescott at quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys will be his first attempt to bounce back immediately from a poor performance in a loss.

Rush won his first four starts in 2022 as the backup to the franchise QB, then sidelined by a broken thumb, then threw three interceptions in a loss at Philadelphia before Prescott’s return.

Now Prescott is out for the season with a torn hamstring and Rush is coming off an anemic passing performance when the Cowboys host AFC South-leading Houston (6-4) on Monday night.

Dallas (3-6) is on a four-game losing streak and 0-4 at home, and is quickly disappearing in the NFC East as the defending division champion with a three-year playoff streak. The visit from the Texans comes five days after Prescott’s season-ending surgery.

“We’ll think about him, but as far as we’re concerned, we’re going to go out there and compete for him like he’s there as far as competitiveness and leadership and everything,” 2023 All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “We have to step up and then (do) the things we expect of ourselves.”

Much of that will start with Rush, whose 45-yard passing yards in last week’s 34-6 loss to the Eagles were the fewest by a Dallas starting quarterback since Matt Cassel had 37 before being benched in a 19-16 loss to New York Jets. late in another losing season in 2015.

The third blowout loss at home this season for the Cowboys was the first game since Prescott injured his hamstring in a 27-21 loss at Atlanta.

“I think Cooper has to get us in and out of the runs and the passes and get us into the flow of the game,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “You’ve got to distribute the ball 53, 54, 55 times a game to your perimeter playmakers, whether you’re passing it off or throwing it. We’ve got to get back to that functionality on offense.”

Rush took a shot to the head when he lost a snap and lost a fumble inside his 20-yard line, a fumble that gave Philadelphia a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

The undrafted 31-year-old, in his eighth NFL season, has always been memorable, but might have been rattled a bit by the unforced error as he finished 13 of 23 for a paltry 1.96 yards per carry average. attempt.

“Obviously, I was frustrated by it,” Rush said. “It was spotting them in that field position. It was frustrating, but the next drive we went right down the field. I think we ran it really well that drive and got points, so I was happy to see us come back in that way.”

Rush has lost his last two starts — both against the Eagles — after winning the first five, including one in 2021 when Prescott had a strained calf.

The Cowboys had success with Rush in 2022 because he protected the ball and went without an interception while throwing for an average of 194 yards during the four straight wins.

It was also one of three consecutive seasons in which Dallas finished with a turnover margin of at least plus-10.

The Cowboys are minus-10, which is 29th in the NFL, and have committed five turnovers in each of their last two home games. Rush didn’t throw an interception against the Eagles, but did lose two fumbles.

“We have a lot of confidence in Cooper,” McCarthy said. “Everybody believes in him. How can you not go by how he’s performed? That fumble and the fumble recovery was a rough start and I just felt like he never got into a rhythm.”

Two of Rush’s five touchdown passes in his five-game stretch two years ago were to Lamb, but that was before Lamb’s breakout 2023 season.

His career-high 135 catches, an NFL best, for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns led to a long holdout that ended with Lamb signing a four-year, $136 million extension in August.

Now, any hope of a recovery that would keep Dallas’ fading playoff hopes alive rests on getting the Rush-Lamb combination going.

“I take full responsibility for being in sync with him,” Lamb said. “Obviously, we’re going to ride this thing out for the rest of the season. I have the utmost confidence in him. I don’t care what happened last week.”

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