This weekend will mark the second game of the 2024 season in which the Dallas Cowboys will take the field without All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott and, unfortunately, it won’t be the last, as he recovers from season-ending surgery on his hamstring. And as the Houston Texans prepare to head into town, the onus is on Cooper Rush, CeeDee Lamb and the offense to find a spark of some sort.
The offense’s first outing without Prescott yielded only two field goals from Brandon Aubrey, along with four lost fumbles and an interception with a total of 66 passing yards. Lamb finished with just 21 receiving yards on six catches, though he was targeted 10 times, as the connection with Rush failed to ever get going.
He’s looking to rectify that against the Texans.
“The work is going to get done,” said the All-Pro receiver. “And, with me, I take full responsibility in getting in sync with him. We’re going to ride this thing out through the rest of the season, so I have the most confidence in him. I don’t care what happened last week, and last week is last week.
“So with that being said, we’ve got a game to win.”
The stretch ahead of Lamb marks the second time he will be tasked with producing at a high level without Prescott at the helm, the first time occurring in 2021, when the latter suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
At the time, Lamb was simply a heralded first-round pick, and not yet an NFL record-setting one.
“It kind of reminds me of my rookie year,” he said. “It’s kind of the same situation — a season-ending injury — which is very unfortunate.”
Prescott remains in the team’s thoughts, however, and that’s especially true for Lamb, who was one of the first to reach out to the quarterback with a phone call once surgery was completed in New York.
“I hate that for him,” said Lamb. “He just had surgery and we pray for his speedy recovery. We’re all thinking about him. But as far as for us, we’ve got to go out there and compete for him as if he is there — as far as the competitive spirit, the leadership and everything he’s expecting. We’ve got to step up.”
Ah, stepping up.
It’s something the entirety of the Cowboys understands needs to happen immediately, yesterday, the week before, etc,; and Lamb says he’s not shying away from shouldering the load (quite literally, considering he’s playing through a shoulder sprain) to try and help the organization power through a 3-6 start to find a way, any way at all, to sneak into the postseason.
“Obviously, being a receiver here, it’s very tough [to lose Prescott],” he said. “But going out here and knowing that I’ve still got to showcase my ability, prove myself to my guys and uplift everyone that’s in the locker room, and continue to fight within each and every individual that’s out there. [It’s about] having that effort.”
And they’ll need a lot of that, from everyone, on Monday night.