MINNEAPOLIS — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was listed among the inactive players for tonight's game against the Minnesota Vikings, officially deeming him out, with a calf strain that has been the focus of Cowboys Nation for the last two weeks.
Prescott went through an extensive pre-game warmup, trying to test out the calf strain, and get himself in a position where he could get on the field. But with a 2.5-game lead in the NFC East, and facing a Vikings team that leads the NFL in sacks per pass attempt, the Cowboys elected to play it safe, and give Prescott one more week to get healthy.
Cooper Rush will make his first NFL start, as a result. Rush has played just 29 snaps in his NFL career, all of which in mop-up duty, late in games. He has thrown three passes in his career, completing one. His first meaningful NFL snap will come tonight.
The Cowboys face a Vikings team that is 3-3 on the year, and is on a two-game win streak. They are also coming off their bye.
While Minnesota is terrific at getting after the quarterback, they are on the bottom end of the league in stopping the run, ranking 26th in rushing yards allowed. So without Prescott, you would imagine we'll see a steady diet of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard tonight. The Vikings give up 128.0 rushing yards per game.
Prescott strained his calf on the very last play of the Cowboys overtime win against the Patriots, just before the Cowboys bye week. Prescott wore a protective walking boot while meeting with reporters after the game, and was seen wearing that same boot as he departed the plane at DFW Airport, the following morning. He shed that boot in fairly short order and was able to take part in Cowboys practices over the course of this week, albeit in a limited capacity.
But he wasn't close enough to 100% to be able to play tonight.