Dec 11, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) after missing a 3rd down attempt forcing a punt in the 1st half at MetLife Stadium. Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys remain firmly behind rookie quarterback Dak Prescott after his worst performance of the season in the team’s first loss in 91 days.
“You can make it as simple or complex as you want to make it,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday. “It’s pretty simple for us: Dak’s going to play quarterback as we go forward.”
In a 10-7 loss to the Giants, Prescott completed only 17 of 37 passes for 165 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions and a career-low 45.4 passer rating.
As a result, Garrett was questioned about the Cowboys’ decision not to pull Prescott during Sunday’s game and replace him with former starter Tony Romo.
But owner Jerry Jones and Garrett remain consistent in their belief in Prescott. Garrett repeated the company line a day after he and the owner were quizzed postgame about a possible quarterback controversy: Prescott has no reason to look over his shoulder.
“We’re just focused on Dak playing quarterback for us,” Garrett said. “We’ll continue to do that in our preparation this week and as we go forward. He’s done a really good job for us up to this point. We’ve won 11 out of 13 games that he’s started. He’s handled really every situation as well as you could handle it. So we’ll just continue that way.
“Tony will be in a backup role for us, and he’ll be ready to go if he’s called upon to play. But Dak’s done an outstanding job up to this point. Excited to see him continue to play.”
The Cowboys generated only 260 yards of offense and scored only seven points, while going 1-for-15 on third down.
Garrett insists the team never considered inserting Romo in the game.
“We have a lot of confidence in Dak Prescott,” Garrett said. “He’s done lot of really good things over the course this year, and we believe with all of our players our job is to instill belief in them and instill confidence in them. We try to do that with the preparation we have leading up to the ball game. We try to give them opportunity to show what they can do, and he’s certainly done that throughout the year, and we’ll continue to proceed that way.”
