SEATTLE — The question of who will back up Dak Prescott is still being sorted, but the expectation, at least for now, is that Cooper Rush remains the man for the QB2 job. And while Will Grier performed better in his second preseason game then he did in his first, it's also true that Rush was the usual steady hand in Seattle.
He'd finish the game with 96 yards and a touchdown that gave the Cowboys their first and only lead of the contest at Lumen Field, including an 17-play, 80-yard drive that took seven minutes and 48 seconds off of the clock.
"Up front, we were running it really well," said Rush of the drive. "We were staying in third-and-manageable. Those guys were getting downhill. The backs were hitting it.
"Then a couple of really good catches on third and fourth down."
Those catches were by way of rookie seventh-round pick Jalen Brooks for an eight-yard gain on fourth-and-four from the Seahawks' 40-yard line, followed by an 11-yard reception by KaVontae Turpin on third-and-6 from the Seahawks' 28-yard line.
Two plays later, it was running back Rico Dowdle marching into the end zone on a six-yard reception from Rush.
But it was also Jalen Tolbert who played a big part on the drive and for Rush on the whole — to the tune of 50 receiving yards — including an eye-popping 35-yard grab, and he hauled it in despite a defensive pass interference from cornerback Mike Jackson (declined).
"The biggest thing for him is confidence," said Rush of Tolbert. "He's playing with a lot of it right now. Obviously, he's got so much talent, and it's great to see all that work paying off."
All told, the offense looked a bit sharper than it did in the previous week of preseason action with Rush at the helm.
"I thought we were in a really good rhythm and a good flow of the offense," he said. "We were running the ball well, and we were getting completions. I need to work on some accuracy, as the receivers bailed me out with some great catches today, but we'll take it."
