DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Cowboys are playing it safe with their franchise quarterback, as they listed Dak Prescott among their inactives for Sunday night's matchup against the Vikings.
Cooper Rush, who had reportedly taken all of the first-team reps in practice this week, per the Dallas Morning News, will get his first career start in Prescott's place. Will Grier will back up Rush.
All eyes were on Prescott about two hours prior to kickoff, as he was accompanied by the team's director of rehabilitation Britt Brown for his pregame rehab work to determine if he would be able to start (calf). Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was among those on hand to watch the session.
Prescott, who suffered the calf injury in Week 6, took all of the first-team reps in walk-throughs and got in some limited work at this week's practices.
If tonight were a playoff game, there would be no question about Prescott's prospects of playing. The quarterback even said so himself during his visit with the media Thursday.
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The contest is still very important, as Dallas is 5-1 and right in the thick of the hunt for the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. But at this juncture of the season, the team decided it wasn't worth risking further injury to their star quarterback.
Safety Israel Mukuamu, DE Azur Kamara, center Matt Farniok and receiver Simi Fehoko are the team's other inactives.