Dak Prescott’s career has been full of surprises, and the Cowboys QB needs another big one vs. TB

The cowboys have worn these shoes before. It was only nine years ago, at the start of the 2012 season, that the Dallas league had the Super Bowl champions visit them on Thursday evening. The Cowboys beat the New York Giants by 24:17 that night, but Tyron Smith is the only starter here who can remember what that was like, so it’s fair to call this a new test for these Cowboys.

This is especially true of quarterback Dak Prescott. Regardless of the time, place or opponent, his first game under the middle as a freshly baked quarterback for $ 40 million a season would be an important story. The fact that he is doing it in Tom Brady’s new home while he is shrouded in his personal secret due to an injury makes the challenge all the greater.

Brady has seven Super Bowl rings. He played college ball in Michigan last century. Who knows at this point in time which planet he comes from? There is simply no point in comparing others to him at this point or examining a “history of the band” for any quarterback who opposes Brady.

Prescott has his own concerns. He has declared himself ready remarkably often – at the start of training camp, returning to training camp after his shoulder injury last week – without ever actually playing the game. Prescott is one of 15 quarterbacks who haven’t thrown a single preseason pass, but Brady spoke this week about why he’d like to at least get the feel of the game during the show season and how long it took to get normal in his pocket felt after his serious injury in 2007.

Prescott was injured against New York on October 11th last season and will elapse almost 11 months between throwing passes against any real opponent of any kind, and it just so happens that his opponents are the Super Bowl champions.

Additionally, due to a positive COVID-19 test, the club doesn’t expect its best offensive lineman, Zack Martin, to be available. As Prescott seeks to prove he overcome last year’s broken ankle and shoulder strain that came with it this summer, the cowboys can’t shake off the pandemic or league protocols that reflect how they’re supposed to be managed.

(Chance thought: Given what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did with Doctors and Jason Witten a few years ago, don’t rule out some recent negative tests showing up for Martin.)

The Bucs Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh represent the kind of defensive tackle challenge the Cowboys only wish they could unleash the middle against Brady. So if Prescott isn’t running for his life on Thursday, expect him to at least be on the move to keep those first-down chains moving.

In a negotiation nearing the two-year mark as the Cowboys got down to delivering the long-sought four-year deal to Prescott, it was often mentioned that money won’t change Prescott. And in a personal sense that may be true, even if I can’t say that it applies to me or to everyone I know. Top athletes are from another world, and it’s not as if his numerous referrals didn’t elevate him to the higher tax brackets long before his guaranteed $ 126 million contract.

But it’s never about what people buy or how their lifestyle changes. It’s about the expectations around them and how this new world is managed. Whether against Tampa Bay Thursday evening, the Los Angeles Chargers a week from Sunday or one of the three following home games, Prescott will endure a bad game or a certain disappointment in the near future. When that happens, the reaction will no longer revolve around the supreme fourth round election. Instead, it will focus on the guy eating up the cowboys’ entire wage limit, and few will care if that’s even true.

Prescott is actually third behind DeMarcus Lawrence and Amari Cooper on salary cap hits this season, but that’s about to change in the future. Regardless, he’s made more cash each season than Seattle’s Russell Wilson, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, or any other Super Bowl quarterback you’d like to mention alongside Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, whose deal is heavily reloaded.

Prescott was paid. Now is the time to play.

It all starts against a defense that sacked fourth in the NFL and fifth in the takeaways, a unit Mahomes almost knocked out into submission in their final game at Raymond James Stadium. For the Cowboys, hope lies in the fact that the Bucs were the hottest team in the league a year ago, much more than a dominant team. Tampa Bay finished November with a 7-5 record. There wasn’t a lot of talk about the Brady Super Bowl back then.

This is the start of a new season with fans in the stands and more pressure on the quarterbacks. Prescott has fought for new financial pressures. He’ll start answering questions about his ankle, shoulder, and his team’s determination to return to the top of NFC East in the most demanding of environments.

The schedule says it will get easier for Prescott and Dallas after Thursday night. However, passing or failing this first test will feel like more than just one in 17 games. And this particular quarterback made surprising people a habit in his first five NFL seasons.

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