DALLAS — The news of center Travis Frederick retiring in the offseason worried most Dallas Cowboys fans, but quarterback Dak Prescott is not anxious about his replacement.
In 2018, Joe Looney filled in for Frederick for all 16 games as the All-Pro center battled Guillain–Barré syndrome all season. Looney will be replacing Frederick at center to take first team reps in Phase 2 of training camp, according to coach Mike McCarthy.
Looney, who turns 30 on Aug. 31, has fourth-round rookie Tyler Biadasz as his competition. The scales are tilted toward veteran experience in a season where rookies did not have the customary mini-camp, organized team activities, and mandatory camp to acclimate them to pro football.
Prescott is familiar with taking snaps from Looney, and the Cowboys went 10-6, won the NFC East, and beat the Seattle Seahawks in the wild-card round with the backup lineman in a starting role. Prescott is confident in taking snaps from Looney once more.
"Yeah, no worries — no worries at all," Prescott said. "Joe was the center for 2018, and that was a good year for us. We didn’t start off the way we wanted to, but as everybody gained trust, as everybody got going and communicated better, we got to where we wanted to be near the end of that season."
In addition to trusting Looney, Prescott has faith in McCarthy, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, and offensive line coach Joe Philbin to make the right selection for the starting center job.
"I trust Joe, I trust our coaches and I trust that they’re going to have whoever it is that needs to be in there on the offensive line, whether it’s filling in for a guy or not, that we’ll all be ready," said Prescott. "We’ve got a great, great, great group of coaches here that — I know I said I’m excited for them, but just talking around the locker room, everybody loves their position coaches and the way that they communicate, the way they have us all on the same page, communicating.
"I think that’s going to be a big step for this team.”
Even though Dallas is losing security at center with Frederick gone, they still have a high degree of familiarity with Looney, who has been with the Cowboys since 2016. The Cowboys are hoping that they can pick up where they left off the last time Looney hiked the ball to Prescott in live action as playoff winners.
Do you think Dak Prescott will have the same caliber of season without Travis Frederick at center? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.
