Is Dak Prescott playing today?

It all comes down to this. With the roster deadline just days away, the Dallas Cowboys play their preseason finale Saturday against the LA Chargers. The Cowboys had their final practice of training camp on Thursday and have since made the trek back home to Frisco.

When asked about the backup QB competition this week, Mike McCarthy did not name a winner. McCarthy stated that Cooper Rush is having his best camp as a Cowboy. That is very noteworthy as Trey Lance looks to unseat Rush as Dak Prescott's backup.

McCarthy has opted to rest most of his starters in preseason. Cowboys fans have yet to see Prescott, Micah Parsons, Tyler Smith, Zack Martin and DaRon Bland (etc.) take the field.

Other teams have taken a different approach, but with one exhibition remaining until Week 1, it seems the head coach is content putting Prescott in bubble wrap until the regular season. However, that doesn't mean Prescott won't have a prominent role in the game.

Dak Prescott won't play in Cowboys' preseason finale vs. Chargers, but might call plays

Prescott will not play in Saturday's preseason finale. However, as of this writing, McCarthy had not ruled out letting Prescott call the offensive plays. The Pro Bowl quarterback called the offense in last year's preseason finale and it was a roaring success as Dallas rolled over the Raiders 31-16.

"Once again, it's preseason football. Those guys gave us three coverages on the other side," Prescott said about calling plays. "I'm not going to sit here on my high horse like I just called the Super Bowl or something. It was a game and it was fun. It was fun to do and it was fun to experience that."

There is a lot riding on this game, so McCarthy might prefer to run the offense. As stated earlier, Lance and Rush are duking it out for the backup job. While Jerry Jones confirmed this week that Lance will make the 53-man roster -- not that that was ever in doubt -- Saturday could determine whether Lance is QB2 or the team's emergency third-string quarterback.

Then again, Prescott shined in his play-calling debut last year. Cowboys fans might remember Will Grier carving up Las Vegas to the tune of 305 passing yards and four total touchdowns (two passing, two rushing).

Make no mistake, though: if Prescott gets the play sheet he won't hold back. McCarthy has said it allows Prescott to see the game through a different lens, so the head coach may end up giving Dak the proverbial green light. Being that he won't play in the game, calling the offense is the next best thing.

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