There’s a new sheriff in Dallas … for now.
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott was injured during the Week 9 loss to the Falcons. The quarterback hurt his hamstring, and he is expected to miss multiple weeks as a result.
It’s not the first time that Dallas has been forced to go to a backup option in the middle of the season to run the defense. Two years ago, Cooper Rush stepped in for the Cowboys and led Mike McCarthy’s team with Prescott sidelined, and he’ll do it again in 2024.
Rush was named the starting quarterback for Week 10 over Trey Lance. The 30-year-old has been QB2 behind Prescott and now will get a chance to lead the offense in a pivotal NFC East matchup against the Eagles. Philadelphia (6-2) sits three games ahead of Dallas (3-5) in the division.
Can Rush recreate the magic he found in 2022? Here’s a look at the new Cowboys starter’s career stats.
Cooper Rush stats
Rush has appeared sparingly for the Cowboys during his NFL career. However, during the 2022 season, he got his opportunity to start when Prescott went down with an injury — and Rush reveled in the moment.
The backup went on a tear in his five-start stretch with Prescott sidelined. With Rush as the starter, the Cowboys went 4-1 in that span, as the quarterback completed 58 percent of his passes and threw for 956 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. All three picks came during one game (a loss against the Eagles), which was his only defeat as a starter.
It led to speculation about a quarterback controversy in Dallas, but once Prescott came back healthy by late October, he took back the starting role from Rush and has kept it since.
So far in 2024, Rush has four appearances, throwing for 167 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He went 13-for-25 for 115 yards and a score in relief of Prescott when he was hurt against the Falcons.
“I mean we’re just trying to beat Philly.” Rush said when asked about expectations for himself. “That’s kind of our approach this week. Got to take them one at a time. It’s a cliché but it works. And so that’s kind of the goal and you’re really just taking it practice by practice, game by game and we’ll see what happens.”
His teammates have his support as well. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Micah Parsons both praised Rush for his abilities.
“We know what Coop can do,” Lamb said. “The confidence is still there. Stand in there and deliver.”
“I’ve seen what Cooper Rush can do,” Parsons said. “That’s a good boy right there. Cooper Rush got a lot of talent. He won games for us by just doing the basics, just playing good football. So it’s not like he can’t do it.”
1. Cooper Rush
Rush now is thrust into the starter role with Prescott sidelined with an injury.
The 30-year-old went to Central Michigan from 2012-16. He went undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft and signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. Rush was with Dallas for three years but then was claimed by the New York Giants off waivers in 2020. They added him to their practice squad but then released him in late September.
Dallas signed Rush a month later to the practice squad and quickly elevated him to the active roster that season, with Prescott and then-backup Andy Dalton both out with injuries. Since then, Rush has served as Prescott’s backup, taking over whenever the starter has missed time with an injury.
2. Trey Lance
Lance played his college ball at North Dakota State. He was an interesting prospect when he came out in the 2021 draft class. Lance showed flashes but only played 19 games in college. Still, he had plenty of analysts and teams believing in him. Lance was drafted with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft as the 49ers traded up to select him.
He played in only six games as a rookie, largely backing up Jimmy Garoppolo. Lance played in two games in 2022 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Brock Purdy eventually took over the offense and Lance was unable to get it back from him. With how good Purdy had looked, San Francisco decided to trade Lance to the Cowboys for a 2024 fourth-round pick.
Lance has yet to play for Dallas but may get his chance with Prescott’s injury if Rush isn’t up to snuff.
3. Dak Prescott
When healthy, Prescott is QB1. He has been for the Cowboys since he was drafted in 2016 in the fourth round out of Mississippi State.
Prescott enjoyed a stellar 2023 season, finishing second in MVP voting behind Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. He threw for 4,516 yards, 36 touchdowns and just nine interceptions, completing a career-high 69.5 percent of his passes. However, he has not been nearly as good in 2024, as he’s already up to eight picks compared to 11 touchdowns, with his completion percentage down to 64.7, his worst rate since 2017.