FRISCO (105.3 The Fan) - It was a light day of work for the Cowboys at practice on Wednesday ahead of their game against the Rams.
Much of the attention today was focused on the debut of rookie linebacker Damone Clark and the rehab of starting quarterback Dak Prescott.
Clark has spent all season on the Non-Football Injury list following spinal fusion surgery to repair a herniated disk earlier this year. The injury was discovered by the Cowboys medical team at the NFL Scouting Combine.
There wasn’t much physicality to the work Clark did in front of the media on Wednesday, but he did get a couple of reps in on the tackling sled.
Clark’s debut at practice today is the beginning of a ramp-up period where the Cowboys have 21 days to activate the rookie off of NFI. Clark was widely believed to be a second-round pick in April’s draft before the injury caused him to slide to the Cowboys in the fifth round.
"I think the rehab process is complete," Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy said at his Wednesday press conference. "And I'm personally happy we waited as long as we did, because now this young man can jump in there full speed. But he hasn't put on pads in a year and a half, so let's be realistic about that. It'll be good to get him out here working. I'd like to see where he is at the end of the week, but in a lot of ways he's like a guy that just showed up at training camp and missed ramp-up and missed the whole offseason program. He just needs the work. It'll be great to have him out there."
While the expectation is that Clark won’t be available for much more than special teams work this season, the Cowboys envision Clark as a future starter in their linebacker corps.
For Prescott, it was a little bit more business as usual. He worked on the resistance cords with Director of Rehabilitation Britt Brown during the portion of practice open to the media. At one point Prescott teased reporters asking them how many photos of stretching they really needed.
While Prescott didn’t attempt any passes on Wednesday, he did simulate a couple of throws without a ball.
Cowboys Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones all but ruled out Prescott during his conversation with Shan and RJ on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday, but he noted that Prescott will “have a big week, and he'll be hard on himself, getting ready to go.”
While the Cowboys are eager to get Prescott back, they have had some success in his absence. Dallas has won 7 of their last 8 games without their starting quarterback since 2020.
Related
