Dak Prescott is set for season-ending surgery this week. The Cowboys will not see him on the field again until 2025.
It is official. Dak Prescott’s season is over for the Dallas Cowboys. The next time he takes the field will be in 2025.
#Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday on his injured hamstring and is out for the season, owner Jerry Jones told @1053thefan.
It’s Cooper Rush — and maybe Trey Lance — the rest of the way for Dallas, while Dak rehabs for a 2025 return. pic.twitter.com/IrNgtZXT6c
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 12, 2024
Jerry Jones confirmed the seemingly-inevitable during his Tuesday morning radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan. As noted, it was heavily assumed that this was going to be the case for Dak as last week materialized.
From a timeline perspective, Prescott left the loss against the Atlanta Falcons early with what initially appeared to be a hand injury. It was later revealed that Prescott’s ailment was his hamstring and as the dust settled that the injury would cause him to miss multiple weeks.
It wasn’t until later in last week that reports began to circulate that Prescott’s injury could be so severe that he may be in a position to need season-ending surgery. On Saturday, it was reported that this reality was all but confirmed, pending the opinion of one specialist who Prescott was set to visit with in New York.
Apparently that assessment went as the Cowboys feared and Prescott will undergo the necessary procedure on Wednesday in New York. All told he played in eight games for the team this season with the Cowboys going 3-5 in the process.
It is not a bold statement to say that this season was lost for the Cowboys before Prescott’s season-ending injury; however, the end of this ride will be all the more bumpy and ugly with him not in the fold. Prescott was signed to a record-breaking extension by the Cowboys on the day that the season literally began so needless to say this is among the worst possible outcomes.
Prescott will turn 32 in the offseason and we are now at a place where he has missed time from a season in four out of five years. The most intense injury suffered by Dak came in 2020 during his fifth game when his ankle was broken. He missed a lone game in 2021 so including it in the same sort of volume-centered way feels unfair, but the overall point still stands. Dak missed time at the beginning of the 2022 season related to a thumb injury and here we are now with the hamstring issue in 2024.
Is it possible that these are all unfortunate coincidences that are the result of playing an intensely physical game? Sure. But objectively speaking, this is certainly not what you want to see, especially after a serious financial investment. Hopefully Prescott is able to rehab and recover between the rest of the season and the offseason. Ideally an offseason period void of contract drama, likely with a new head coach in place, will help things turn out brighter in 2025.