About a decade ago, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott envisioned life with Lamar Jackson as a teammate.
Jackson, now the Baltimore Ravens signal-caller, was a high school recruit at the time.
“I actually hosted Lamar back in college on a visit to Mississippi State,” said Prescott, who’s senior season in 2015 coincided with Jackson’s freshman year at Louisville. “And that was pretty much it. We’ve both got a lot going on, so I can’t say we’ve connected since.”
Despite the lack of a lasting personal relationship and a missed chance to play together in college, Prescott said he remains a fan of Jackson’s. And when the Cowboys (1-1) host the Ravens (0-2) on Sunday, Prescott and Jackson will square off as two of the NFL’s most productive — and most polarizing — players of the past half-decade
Both quarterbacks ascended to stardom in the years after meeting at Mississippi State. They established themselves as faces of their respective franchises, piled up winning seasons and finished as the two leading vote-getters for league MVP in 2023. Jackson won the award for the second time last year; Prescott placed just behind him in the running.
But for all the fans who gush over the accomplishments Prescott and Jackson have amassed during regular seasons, others prefer to point out the pair’s postseason failures.
Neither has reached a Super Bowl, and they’ve similarly seen their performances sag in the playoffs.
Last year, after their one-two finish in the MVP race, they exited the postseason with whimpers on opposite sides of the bracket. Prescott’s Cowboys suffered a blowout loss at home to the Packers in the divisional round, and Jackson struggled to keep pace with the Chiefs in an AFC championship game loss to the eventual Super Bowl winners.
This season, Prescott and Jackson arrive at Week 3 facing pressure to turn their team’s fortunes around. While Baltimore is winless this season, the Cowboys are coming off a 44-19 drubbing at the hands of the Saints in their home opener last week.
Prescott said this week he’d like his team to ignore outside voices.
“We’ve just got to go out there and play our best — it’s Week 3,” Prescott said. “We can’t get overwhelmed in what people are writing about us. It’s a process. And we’ve got to focus on getting better each and every day.”
Whether they pay attention or not, Prescott, Jackson and their teams regularly attract headlines. And until playoff success comes, skeptics will remain.
Prescott’s not one of Jackson’s public critics, however. He raved about the Ravens’ quarterback this week.
“Hell of a player,” Prescott said. “I always admired his game, what he can do, his talents. Amazing with the ball in his hands. Hell of a thrower. Obviously, I’ve watched him, been a fan of him, since he was at Louisville. He’s continuing to build on a great career. Two MVPs. Continues to be an elite player.”
Recovery from leg surgery kept Prescott sidelined for the only game between the Cowboys and Ravens since Jackson arrived in the NFL, a 34-17 Baltimore win in 2020. That makes Sunday the pair’s first chance to play in the same professional contest.
Though he’s more intent on studying the Ravens’ defense than on watching film of Jackson, Prescott said he recognizes when a capable signal-caller stands on an opposing sideline.
“For me, it’s about understanding the quarterback on the other side, what he’s capable of and making sure our offense is firing and putting pressure on them, rather than just letting them go run an offense at will,” Prescott said.
On Sunday, Prescott will glance across the field and see a counterpart who first arrived on his radar as a teenage recruit and then stood in the way of his MVP chances last year.
Maybe he’ll also see something of a reflection in a star quarterback existing in the spotlight and still striving for a breakthrough to one final echelon of excellence.