FRISCO, Texas — Once again, the Dallas Cowboys turn their hopes to Cooper Rush.
In 2022, Dak Prescott suffered a broken right thumb in a dispiriting opening day loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and all Rush did was help keep the Cowboys’ season afloat, going 4-1 as the starter.
This time, Prescott is out for an extended period of time because of a partial avulsion of his right hamstring, but now Rush is needed to turn around a season that has been nothing short of a major disappointment with a 3-5 record, beginning Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium.
“I mean we’re just trying to beat Philly.” Rush said. “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.”
In six starts, Rush has seven touchdown passes and four interceptions. For his career, he has completed 165 of 275 passes for 1,786 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.
He knows not to try to be Prescott.
“You play a ton of ball in college, it’s stuff you’ve been doing your whole life, trust who you are and the system is the system,” Rush said. “You do what you’re supposed to do. You do what you’re coached to do.”
Throughout the week, teammates on both sides of the ball have expressed faith in Rush.
“I still believe we can make a run. I’ve seen what Cooper Rush can do,” said edge rusher Micah Parsons, who is expected to return from his monthlong absence due to a high left ankle sprain. “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.”
Said wide receiver CeeDee Lamb: “We know what Coop can do. The confidence is still there. Stand in there and deliver.”
Much of the confidence is tied to the success they had in 2022. In his first start, he won against the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals, who finished 12-4 and made the playoffs that season. That was followed by wins against the New York Giants, another playoff team, and the Washington Commanders, who finished 8-8-1. The fourth win was against the Los Angeles Rams.
The loss came against the Eagles before Prescott’s return.
Rush said he draws on the success from 2022 a lot.
“The more games you play, the more reps you bank, you put in your library, you draw on those,” Rush said. “So [I] feel confident in that. Been around here for a while. Played with a lot of these guys before, which is huge when you’re out there with live bullets, trusting those guys. Being out there with them is big.”
As for Prescott, he has been in meetings this week, working with Rush. Coach Mike McCarthy said Prescott is still getting opinions on the hamstring injury. While the Cowboys have not placed him on injured reserve yet, multiple sources said he would need more than four weeks to recover.
“I think that would be his goal [to play again this season],” McCarthy said. “I know he wants to keep playing, but I think it’s important to go through the process and gather all of the information. This is obviously a serious injury.”