FRISCO, Texas — During the offseason, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones proclaimed quarterback Dak Prescott would be required to do more with less this season.
That was already the most truthful statement Jones has ever made — even before the team learned Friday it was losing starting defensive ends Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence to injuries.
Prescott will experience the pressure of their absence.
He was already expected to overcome the lack of a running game: The Cowboys haven't had a running back gain more than 10 yards on a carry this season; that makes them the first team since the 2013 Jaguars without a rush of more than 10 yards by a running back through four games of a season, per ESPN Stats and Info.
Now a defense that was an equal, and perhaps even greater, liability has lost its two most important players.
Head coach Mike McCarthy said Friday that MRIs confirmed the injuries to both players were worse than the team expected. Parsons has a left high-ankle sprain and Lawrence a right mid-foot injury. Lawrence's situation is the more significant of the two, McCarthy said, while noting that both are seeking second opinions on how to proceed.
The fact remains: Both are in jeopardy of missing multiple games.
I asked McCarthy if he is convinced that Parsons and Lawrence will return at some point this season.
“I definitely think they’ll be back,’’ he said. ”I just don’t have a timeline yet.”
Lawrence will be further evaluated by Dr. Eugene Curry, a local foot and ankle specialist who surgically repaired Prescott’s ankle and leg injury in 2020. Said one team source: “I think he could be down a long time.”
McCarthy tried his best to take the news in stride on Friday.
“It’s part of the game,’’ McCarthy said. “It’s a matter of when.’’
Now seems sub-optimal. The Cowboys are 2-2 with an ominous upcoming schedule: at the Steelers, home against the Lions and then at the 49ers following the bye week.
Parsons is one of the most dynamic defensive players in the league. He has at least 13 sacks in each of his three NFL seasons -- an accomplishment matched only by Hall-of-Famer Reggie White.
Lawrence is a capable pass rusher -- as his team-high three sacks on the season so far demonstrate -- but also a relentless run defender.
McCarthy cannot reasonably expect defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to replace those two with rookie Marshawn Kneeland and Chauncey Golston or Carl Lawson and deliver the kind of results the Cowboys achieved last night in holding the Giants without a touchdown. Remember: Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler left in free agency and Sam Williams suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training camp, so options are limited.
Complementary football is what McCarthy advocates. Each side of the ball supports the other. Right now, the offense should be required to be more productive.
The Cowboys have been the highest-scoring team in the league in two of the last three seasons, and McCarthy and Prescott need now -- more than ever -- to replicate that feat in order to offset the defensive personnel losses and the likelihood that opponents will score more easily until Parsons and Lawrence return.
McCarthy is the offensive play-caller and game-planner. And he's a head coach with a reputation for being able to take whatever personnel he has available and manage games well enough to provide his team a chance to win -- provided he has his starting quarterback.
Prescott is the highest-paid player in the league, and he played his finest game of the season against the Giants on Thursday night.
In the 20-15 victory, Prescott executed the quick game exceptionally well as the Cowboys schemed to diminish the impact of the Giants pass rush against a Dallas offensive line with two rookie starters.
Prescott consistently delivered accurate throws into tight windows. He finished with his 12th career game with a completion percentage of at least 80 percent -- the most by any player since he entered the league in 2016.
It was also Prescott's seventh career game with multiple scoring passes while completing 80 percent of his passes, breaking a tie with Tony Romo for the most in franchise history, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
McCarthy conceded there can be a tendency to put more pressure on the offense to compensate in situations like this, admitting he had that urge earlier in his career. But he learned through experience that overcompensation rarely solves the problem.
"That’s a very obvious thought process," he said. "But discipline in being aggressive is critical when you get in these situations."
Injuries are part of the equation in the NFL. It truly is a game of attrition. The 49ers played last week without Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. In the same game, the Rams were without several offensive line starters and receivers Cooper Kupp and Puca Nacua. The Raiders are playing Week 4 without Maxx Crosby and Davante Adams.
With McCarthy the head coach and Prescott the starting quarterback, the Cowboys have the most 40-point games in the NFL.
They haven't hit that mark so far this season.
But they're going to need to recapture their old, high-scoring ways soon -- and keep them up, too.
At least until Parsons and Lawrence return, whenever that may be.