Report: Dallas Cowboys star Dak Prescott receives updated return timeline after surgery

After undergoing successful surgery on his thumb, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has a new return timeline for his injury rehab. While initial reports of his expected timeline indicated it would between 6-8 weeks, NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport indicated that Dallas has not ruled out a return before their bye week in Week 9.

Dak Prescott’s updated return timeline

If Prescott’s recovery goes well, he could be back in action by Oct. 30 for their game against the Chicago Bears, with a bye week afterwards to rest after his first game back. If not, Dallas could opt to wait until after their bye week and have him return to game action on Nov. 13 against the Green Bay Packers.

The question will most likely be answered by how Prescott’s recovery has progressed by that time and his performance in practice. Ultimately, it seems most likely that Prescott’s injury will hold him out for a total of six or seven games this season.

Dallas is set to play without Prescott against the Bengals at home, the Giants on the road, the Commanders at home, road games against the Rams and the Eagles, and finally a home game against the Lions.

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As Prescott begins his recovery process, Dallas is currently left with Cooper Rush and Will Grier as the only two quarterbacks on the roster. Although it’s unclear if Dallas will bring in another quarterback via trade or free agency, Cooper Rush is currently expected to be the primary option for the Cowboys going forward.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and executive vice president Stephen Jones both spoke on their new quarterback decision, indicating that the team was evaluating every option available to them at the moment.

Adam Schefter on quarterback options for Dallas

With half the season to go until Prescott’s return, ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes that Dallas is in a rough position with no real quarterbacks available outside of the organization at this point of the season. If Dallas is not satisfied with Cooper Rush or Will Grier as their starter to keep them competitive, the options in the trade market are limited.

“Cowboys executive Stephen Jones has said the Cowboys will evaluate all quarterback options,” said Schefter. “Well let’s stop and think about that … who is really an option at this time of the year? Jimmy Garoppolo would have to waive his no-trade clause in San Francisco to go to Dallas. Why would he want to waive his no-trade clause to go to a team right now that’s battered on the offensive line, that doesn’t look like it has a lot of wide receiver help — that’s expecting Dak back later in the season. I don’t know that he would do that.

“What other options are there? [Is] there Mason Rudolph in Pittsburgh? The bottom line is, the Dallas Cowboys are stuck with Cooper Rush and Will Grier to try to save their season now that Dak Prescott is going to the sideline [for] roughly two months.”