\nIf Dak Prescott is lost for an extended period of time in 2026, the Dallas Cowboys are what scientists call \u201chosed.\u201d Unlike in 2022, when the Cowboys\u2019 defense was good enough to hold down the fort in his absence, the current Dallas roster isn\u2019t built to survive a long-term loss of their lead signal-caller. A short-term loss, on the other hand, might be survivable.<\/p>\n
Depending how the backup quarterbacks look this summer, the Cowboys may be able to stay afloat without Prescott for a game or two, and Joe Milton and Sam Howell will be given every opportunity to prove themselves in practices. Milton, entering Year 2 in Dallas, has the inside track. The 6-foot-5, 246-pound product of Tennessee comes with an elite physical skillset. If the Cowboys can pick one guy to hit his potential, Milton\u2019s the guy.<\/p>\n
Howell, 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, isn\u2019t the physical specimen Milton is, but he comes with 18 career starts under his belt and some ability to read defenses and anticipate throws. Howell\u2019s roughly the same age as Milton but his ceiling isn\u2019t nearly as high, so the onus is likely on him to beat out Milton.<\/p>\n
In many ways, the Cowboys offense is a backup quarterback\u2019s dream. Ceedee Lamb, George Pickens and Ryan Flournoy may be the best trio in the NFL this year, while Javonte Williams and the running game are one of the most reliable rushing attacks.<\/p>\n
The only less-than-ideal part of the Cowboys offense is the pass protection on the edges. Whoever wins the QB2 job will have to be working on a clock because the ball may need to come out fast. Oh yeah, there\u2019s also that pesky defensive situation to work around.<\/p>\n
Under Christian Parker, the Dallas defense is expected to be better in 2026 but coming off a historically poor season, massive improvement is unlikely. Based on that, simply driving the bus at quarterback may not be enough to secure victory.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s what took place during the Cowboys first day of mandatory minicamp<\/p>\n
\n
\nDak Prescott\u2019s \u201climited\u201d practice<\/strong><\/p>\nBrian Schottenheimer said Dak Prescott was dealing with a \u201csore knee\u201d and would be held out of minicamp, mostly, but there was the All-Pro quarterback in the first practice leading team drills and looking damn good doing it, too.<\/p>\n
One of his first throws was a deep right bomb to CeeDee Lamb toward the sideline, an absolute dot that Lamb reeled in before yelling and talking trash. \u2013 Patrik Walker<\/em><\/p>\nCB Shavon Revel moving well<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the defensive side of the ball, I glued my eyes to rookie first-round pick Caleb Downs but it was Shavon Revel that eventually stole my attention.<\/p>\n
The second-year cornerback isn\u2019t wearing a brace on his knee anymore, and is moving extremely well, whereas he seemed a bit unsure and very measured in his movements last season as he worked to return from a torn ACL. Revel looks ready to prove he might be back at top form. \u2013 Patrik Walker<\/em><\/p>\nHow Cowboys recovering from injuries and George Pickens participated<\/strong><\/p>\nEver since Brian Schottenheimer addressed questions about George Pickens during OTAs, it was clear that if Pickens was present for minicamp the team would be careful in what he would and wouldn\u2019t do on the field. On Tuesday, Pickens participated in mocks and individual drills, but did not take part in team drills.<\/p>\n
It was a similar situation for Cowboys CB DaRon Bland (foot) and S Jalen Thompson (pec), who spent a majority of time on the recovery cords with Cowboys director of rehabilitation Britt Brown. Veteran S Malik Hooker was also part of that group earlier on in practice. Schottenheimer added in his press conference that EDGE James Houston (back) would be limited, and he did conditioning work on the opposite practice field. \u2013 Tommy Yarrish<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\nDaily discussion question: <\/em>Can you believe that the George Pickens situation has been resolved so smoothly?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nRead More<\/a> Brandon_Loree<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys welcomed back George Pickens after missing out on OTAs. A man of his word, George Pickens is. For months, many outside the building wondered if he\u2019d make good on his promise that what matters to him most is football and his teammates \u2014 something that was easy to say before negotiations began<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":913608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22890,3790,857],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-913607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cowboys","category-football","category-george"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}