DALLAS — Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Drew Pearson is starting to falter with his support for Dak Prescott.
Pearson, who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1973-83, joined "The Zach Gelb Show" on CBS Sports Radio on Jan. 17 to talk about his former team following their 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card at AT&T Stadium Jan. 16.
"I was really high on Dak, really high on him when they first drafted him," Pearson said. "I was excited about that, because of what he did at Mississippi State. He brought that winning attitude there. I thought he could bring that here."
Through six seasons as the Cowboys' starter, Prescott has compiled a 53-32 record and delivered Dallas three NFC East titles. However, the playoff success has been paltry as Prescott's record is 1-3 in the postseason and he continues to be a part of the Cowboys' NFC Championship Game appearance drought that has parched the franchise since 1996.
"He says all of the right things, but now is the time to put up," Pearson said. "And Jerry Jones' window is not that wide open at this point. You've got to step up and have something to play for."
"I'm just wavering now with Dak. I just saw regression as the season went on, and that's a disappointment at $40 million a year."
For Pearson, it wasn't necessarily about the recent contract extension as he remarked that Prescott's play for the last half of the season would be, "a disappointment at $2 million a year."
"It's not about the money, it's about that player playing the position and not improving, and declining in a season where we started out so well," Pearson said.
Through the first six weeks, Dallas went 5-1 with Prescott posting a 16-to-4 touchdown to interception ratio and a 115.0 passer rating. After sustaining a calf injury, which kept him out of Week 8 at the Minnesota Vikings, Prescott tallied a 21-to-6 touchdown to interception ratio with a 98.1 passer rating. The Cowboys were 6-4 in that span and had a 1-3 record against eventual playoff teams.
In the loss to the 49ers, Prescott completed 23 passes on 43 attempts for 254 yards, a touchdown, an interception, took five sacks, and had a 69.3 passer rating.
"We were rolling the first part of the season. Everyone was talking about the Cowboys, the Cowboys dominating. We almost had the NFC East won in the first seven weeks of the season. Then we started going downhill, and a lot of it was on the offensive side of the ball, and a lot of it was predicated by the play of the quarterback," said Pearson.
Winning cures all, and Prescott won't have a chance to steady Pearson's support in him until a year from now if the Cowboys can get back to the playoffs, a feat they have not done in consecutive seasons since 2006-07.
Do you agree with Pearson that Prescott needs to step up? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.
