Dak Prescott surgery surprise could explain Cowboys’ second-half slide

Several Dallas Cowboys staff members are in Indianapolis for the 2022 NFL Combine. On Tuesday, head coach Mike McCarthy spoke to the press to answer some questions about his team. It didn’t take much time for him to drop quite a surprising bomb. McCarthy told reporters that Cowboys QB Dak Prescott underwent a “clean-up” surgery on his left shoulder (non-throwing shoulder) this offseason.

This is pretty shocking news ,considering for most of the season all we heard about was his mid-season calf injury and overall comeback from his gruesome ankle injury in 2020. Of course, the coach downplayed the surgery as much as possible telling reporters that there are “no concerns” and that it will not limit him in the offseason. I don’t know. The last time I checked, surgery is a pretty big deal.

If you remember back to preseason of last year, Prescott did have a latissimus strain, but that was on his throwing shoulder. He was shut down for a bit, but his playing time during the regular season was not affected by that strain. In fact, all seemed well given he threw for over 400 yards in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This yet again brings up another instance where more is happening behind the scenes than the Cowboys are initially letting on. There were never reports or news about Prescott’s non-throwing shoulder having any issues during the season. Similarly, while we knew running back Ezekiel Elliott had an ongoing knee injury, we didn’t find out until the end of the season that he had allegedly been playing on a partially torn PCL since Week 4.

Mike McCarthy reveals that Cowboys QB Dak Prescott underwent “clean-up” surgery on his non-throwing shoulder this offseason

It’s natural to think that maybe this secret injury affected Prescott in the latter half of the season. That left shoulder could have been part of what many called “a slump” in the second half of the year. However, McCarthy told reporters that he does not feel this specific injury had anything to do with Prescott’s play this season.

Hearing news like this is always concerning. All we can do is hope that McCarthy is telling the truth and that this surgery will not impact Prescott’s availability in the offseason. Given his multitude of injuries, Prescott’s 4,449-yard season does seem admirable.

4 players the Dallas Cowboys could cut this offseason

Jerry Jones has to be active this offseason for the Cowboys if they want any chance to play in Super Bowl LVII in Arizona, the place they last won in 1996.