Just because Dak Prescott had no qualms about playing in all four quarters of Sunday’s loss to the Broncos doesn’t mean everyone was thrilled with the move.
During Monday’s installment of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Rex Ryan ripped Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy over his decision to keep Prescott in the game and potentially risk further injury for the 28-year-old quarterback, who had been sidelined a week prior over calf issues.
“This isn’t training camp. To me, this is a disaster. He would have been fired,” Ryan said of McCarthy. “Had Dak Prescott got hurt, guess what my friend? You would have been fired.”
In Sunday’s surprising loss to the Broncos, the Cowboys were down by 30 points with less than seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Although Prescott put up two touchdowns late in the game, Dallas ultimately came up short.
“We needed to get some energy, some momentum. We needed to show our fight, our resiliency, something that’s won us a lot of games. When you’re getting beat like that, you’ve got to show your character,” Prescott said after Sunday’s game, according to the Dallas Morning News.
While Dallas remains atop the NFC East at 6-2, Ryan said Monday that McCarthy’s “horrendous decision” could have had dire consequences if Prescott — who missed much of the 2020 season due to a devastating ankle injury — got hurt Sunday.
“OK, it’s not your day, we get that. But did you really want that extra 150 yards? Good for you, you got it. Why? Cause Denver was so far ahead of you, they allowed you to move the football at the end of the game,” Ryan said. “But if that young man would have gotten hurt, their season would have been over. So to me, it was a stupid decision on this guy.”
Ryan continued Monday’s rant by calling attention to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ lofty expectations of his second-year head coach.
“I don’t understand, you get paid to win,” Ryan said. “Jerry Jones expects you, by the way, to win a Super Bowl. Not just to come back and look good in a two-minute situation.”
For Prescott, however, it “never crossed [his] mind” about exiting the game early.
“I mean, there was game left out there to be played,” Prescott said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It never crossed my mind that I was coming out of the game. I think if somebody would have tried to make that decision, I would have told them I wasn’t.”
Prescott and the Cowboys will get a chance to bounce back Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. And, in McCarthy’s case, he’ll have the opportunity to possibly change Ryan’s mind about his coaching calls.