Why isn’t Dak Prescott playing for the Cowboys against the Bucs in Week 16? Latest damage update

The Dallas Cowboys has been forced to make do without a starting quarterback Dak Prescott since the Week 9 loss to Atlanta in early November.

It was the last time the 31-year-old appeared for Mike McCarthy’s side, whose season has been marred by injury problems. Prescott, who has made just five appearances during the current campaign, will not return until 2025.

What injury does Prescott have? When will he come back?

Prescott suffered a partial tendon avulsion in his hamstring in Dallas Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on 3 November. In layman’s terms, the muscle has become slightly detached from the bone. He underwent season-ending surgery 10 days after the injury, and the recovery time is about three months.

That’s twice as long as the Cowboys would have had to wait if they had opted for a conservative rest-and-rehab regimen that would have kept Prescott on the sidelines for about six weeks.

However, given the team’s position and chances of making the playoffs, it was decided that surgery was the best course of action to ensure the quarterback’s full recovery.

“My plan is to start OTAs (organized team activities) and start offseason no restrictions, full swing,” Prescott told CBS earlier in December, adding, “At that point, (I’m) just going to do everything I can to be the best quarterback and leader of this team to help this team come into next year with the best outfit that we can.”

What are the Cowboys’ 2024 stats with Prescott at QB?

With Prescott under center, The Cowboys went 3-5 in their first eight games of the 2024 season. The quarterback, who signed a four-year, $280 million Cowboys extension in September, making him The NFL’s highest paid playerthrew for 1,978 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions, completing 185 of his 286 field goal attempts.

What are the Cowboys’ 2024 stats without Prescott?

While Prescott has been on the mend, back up Cooper Rush has started five straight games at QB, with a similar winning percentage: since Week 9, Dallas has gone 3-3 for an overall record of 6-8 – not eliminated from playoff contention, but almost.

The Cowboys can no longer win the NFC East division and only have the 13th best record in the NFC conference, leaving them with only 1.3% chance of making the playoffs, sore Pro Football Network’s Playoff Predictor. The NFL’s Next Gen Stats Platform offer an even more pessimistic forecast that places Dallas’ postseason odds at less than 1%.

In his five games as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, Rush has thrown for 1,405 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptionswith a completion rate of 59.6 percent.