One of the most common criticisms of Dak Prescott has been his propensity to throw interceptions, but that has been nary a concern two games into this season.
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback threw a league-leading 15 interceptions last season, which came on the heels of a 10-interception campaign in 2021.
But so far this season Prescott has yet to throw an interception across 62 attempts in the air. The firing of Kellen Moore – who since has been replaced by Brian Schottenheimer – over the offseason was evidence that the Cowboys knew something needed to change.
The early returns are promising.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything so well-covered about how deliberate we were to change some things,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday in his weekly appearance on Shan & RJ. “We obviously went in a different direction relative to our play-caller, we could do that because Mike (McCarthy) was there. But then you have to go in the right direction so to speak and to take what we have in Dak Prescott, which is such a positive with the kind of experience he’s got and kind of time he’s had with the staff and with Mike.
“But to take what we were and then adjust to do some things that would really help Dak, you’ve got to go do that. You’ve got to technically step in there and do it, well you can see in the way it came together out there Sunday. You can see the adjustments that we have made from last year to this year, and you can see the approach in what Dak is trying to do. …
“I think Mike as of this past weekend should take a bow so to speak, because his fingerprints are all over that game the way we played it out there Sunday.”
Jones has for years defended Prescott, going as far as saying last season it is in his DNA to not turn the ball over.
Asked why changes and adjustments around Prescott were needed over the offseason then, Jones framed it as a compliment to the quarterback.
“Well let me just put it this way, the thing that we’re seeing – and this is just almost obvious as obvious – you’re doing it because it’s Dak," Jones said. "A lot of players might not have made these adjustments, whether they’re nuances or they’re significant. But we knew Dak Prescott was the best we had ever seen at taking these adjustments, if you will, or playing the game the way we’re playing it.
“We knew he’s the best we’ve ever seen at taking it from the classroom to the practice field to the game plan, and of course that’s what you’re seeing out there.”