Fully healthy Dak Prescott seizing opportunity at Cowboys’ voluntary offseason program

Whether you love or hate him, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott hasn’t had the easiest couple of years. Injuries have plagued his career and kept him constantly fighting just to get back to healthy. Last year at this time, Prescott was in the midst of an intensive rehab program in order to recover from multiple surgeries done to heal a gruesome compound fracture and dislocation in his right ankle that he sustained in Week 5 of the 2020 season.

He had no offseason downtime and was rendered a limited participant in the bulk of the 2020 offseason programming for the Cowboys. Although he fully recovered by the start of last season, he suffered a left calf strain in the Week 10 victory against the New England Patriots. He luckily only missed one game and had a bye week to rest. He started the rest of the games for Dallas.

Then, last month, we learned from head coach Mike McCarthy that his quarterback had a “cleanup” surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. Prescott was never put on the injury report for this issue last year, but it allegedly irritated him throughout the season. McCarthy ensured reporters that this shoulder irritation didn’t impact Prescott’s play. While we don’t know if that’s true, we do know that the surgery was as minor as the head coach made it seem given that for the first time in a while, Prescott has been deemed fully healthy heading into the Cowboys’ voluntary offseason programming (which began on Monday).

After many months of dealing with injuries and rehab, Prescott is healthy and “excited to get going,” according to a quote from CBS Sports. This is the first time since 2019 that he has been able to get reps in with his receivers ahead of spring workouts. According to tight end Dalton Schultz, Prescott has been doing work with his skill players for a couple of weeks now.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is finally fully healthy and already getting reps in with his receivers ahead of spring programming

This could be a huge victory for Prescott and the Cowboys in general. With a chance to get a full offseason of work done rather than focusing on rehab, Prescott can certainly improve and have a breakout year in 2022. It’s one of the few positive aspects of an otherwise frustrating offseason. The front office has let go or lost many key players and has failed to find equal replacements. The fact that Prescott can get work done with his receivers ahead of time is a big plus, especially since the Cowboys traded away his favorite target in Amari Cooper.

Someone who will remain a reliable target for Prescott on the 2022 roster is Schultz. The tight end knows that getting extra reps in with his QB will mean a lot moving forward. Here’s a quote from Schultz:

"“I think it’s super important anytime that you can throw with your quarterback. It’s invaluable, I think. You almost can’t get enough of it, and I think that’s where he’s at with his health and everything compared to last year when he was still in rehab. We’ve had ample opportunities to get out on the field, throw with guys and just kind of start that process back up. Yeah, we’re definitely ahead of where we were last year.”"

Despite dealing with a variety of injuries and being accused of a slump several times, Prescott still led his team to a 12-5 season and held his own. He even set a franchise record with 37 passing touchdowns in 2021. We look forward to seeing if the rest and extra work pays off for the QB next year.