Dak Prescott's 2024 season is finished. His Cowboys teammates are fighting desperately to prevent the same from being true for the entire club.
Dallas (3-7) is trudging toward a dark winter, struggling to find any consistency on either side of the ball. Injuries have ravaged their roster, with the loss of Prescott remaining the worst of all.
The Cowboys have lost five straight, including two blowouts in their last two outings. All Prescott can do is watch from the sideline.
"The other day, after the game, I guess, it all just hit me," Prescott said of Monday night's loss to Houston, . "Boom, right. A couple of tears came down.
"This is going to hurt. It's going to suck at times. You just have to understand this is one of the moments that it does. I don't want anything right now other than to let it suck. It's understanding and being able to voice that, 'yeah, I'm blessed to be where I'm at.'"
Gratitude is important in trying times, and Prescott certainly has his fair share of experience with difficult stretches. He suffered a season-ending ankle injury while playing under the franchise tag in 2020, sending the Cowboys to a 6-10 finish before signing a four-year, $160 million extension in 2021.
This time around, one season into his new four-year, $240-million deal, a hamstring injury ended his year. Two of the three tendons that connect the hamstring to the pelvis tore from the bone, and a third was hanging by little more than a thread. Prescott said even basic movements -- the kind that the average human makes in a day -- worsened the injury, confirming his worst fears.
"It started to lift off the bone even more," Prescott said. "That one was doing all the work, and now it was compromised. Hell, I had a week of not even playing football, just walking and normal movement and that was tearing it."
Last season, Prescott made a solid case for 国产外流网MVP for most of the campaign, finishing first in passing touchdowns (36), second in passer rating (105.9) and third in passing yards (4,516) as the leader of a Cowboys team that won the NFC East before being upset by the Green Bay Packers on Super Wild Card Weekend.
This season was supposed to be the bounce-back campaign for Dallas, a redemption year with the goal of finishing the job it had started in 2023. Instead, the Cowboys have collapsed, limping to a 3-5 start before losing Prescott to the hamstring injury in Week 9.
"It's been a tough year personally with my emotions because it's a roller coaster," Prescott said. "It's truly been ups and downs. I would say riding a wave I'm constantly preaching about not riding.
"Off the field, it's been some of the most joyous times I ever could have imagined, dreamed of. Having a child, getting engaged, starting a family. But then on the football field, it's probably been as tough of a season as I've ever had. I'd probably say the toughest."
Without Prescott, there's little reason to hope they'll improve, with most of the focus shifting toward the future of coach Mike McCarthy. Backup QB Cooper Rush was entirely ineffective in his first start before rebounding to throw for 354 yards in the 34-10 loss to Houston. Dallas' offense is incredibly limited by a lack of weapons, too, which has only been further magnified by Prescott's exit.
Again, all Prescott can do is watch, support his teammates and hope for the best -- for both his team and himself.
"I can't just sit around and do nothing," Prescott said. "I need some wins. I need some small victories. I need to see that I'm taking a step forward even when it looks like I'm in place.
"There is a future. I know which direction I'm headed in. I know I will be faster, stronger and better than I ever have by the way I will attack this."
We'll see which members of the club are still around when Prescott is able to return to the field.
