FRISCO, Texas — How can anyone talk about anything else when it comes to Dak Prescott? His ankle injury last October was arguably the most gruesome of the NFL season, and it torpedoed the Cowboys' playoff chances and put their future in flux.
So, to see Prescott on the field for OTAs and minicamp just over seven months later is fairly remarkable, and exactly how that ankle is feeling seems like a more pressing topic than Prescott's chemistry with CeeDee Lamb or what he thinks of Dan Quinn's defensive scheme.
After Wednesday's practice the franchise quarterback tried to put to rest any concern over the discussion.
"I've buried the injury, honestly," Prescott said of his mental state. "From the point of practice, from the point of just moving forward and going about my life, I've buried it. I've buried it mentally. Put it on the tombstone."
The ankle injury was pretty plainly horrendous, but the fact that doctors have cleared Prescott to be on the field and he is nearly a full-go with a few minor precautions taken by the training staff all speaks for itself. But getting over an injury like that means reacquiring the confidence to become the player he was before it occurred. Prescott said that he has felt he'd moved past the injury about a month ago, and the realization gave him a new type of confidence.
"There are no limits to what the mind can do," Prescott said. "There are a lot of injuries that have more of a mental weight than they actually do a physical weight. If you can learn to get that off of you, just by trusting yourself, believing in what you can do, and trusting the doctors and people around you, you can do pretty much anything that you want coming back from the majority of the injuries this game gives us."
This proclamation all came after Wednesday's practice in which he says that he received more reps than he had in any official practice since the injury. He says that the practices have felt great and that they've made him excited to move from seven-on-seven and into reps that incorporate a real pass rush.
Perhaps most importantly, Prescott said that a few specific drills in OTAs and minicamp have made him realize that he could escape pressure if he needed to and that he notices himself getting back into rhythm with each practice.
"I'm sure you guys saw the scramble drill that we've done a few times," Prescott said to the media. "That was a big one for my confidence. I look at the tape and realize that I'm running more smoothly and getting better. I'm using my leg more as I throw. Those are all building blocks for me to get where I want to be. It's just exciting."
