ATLANTA — Good things rarely happen for Dak Prescott in North Georgia. Anyone who knows of the "Burning of Atlanta" can immediately conjure evidence of that take, and seeing the All-Pro quarterback go down with injury after trying his best to will the Dallas Cowboys to a win against the Falcons became the latest unfortunate event for him at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Near the very end of the third quarter, Prescott dropped back to throw a pass and appeared to grimace during the throw, with no contact made by a defender.
He was then evaluated in the medical tent for what looked to be a possible injury to his throwing hand, but he was ruled out instead due to a hamstring injury that prevented him from returning to the game.
Cooper Rush was sent in to take the reins atop the fourth quarter for the first offensive drive.
"I've gotta get it looked at," said Prescott on his status, before explaining what transpired. "I felt it on the third play, a little scramble to the left. Didn't think much of it, to be honest with you, and then on the next play — throwing the stop route — pulled something. It was something I'd never felt. Tried to walk on it at that point, and then saw the medical team and asked if I could make it worse [by continuing].
"At that point, they said I wouldn't be able to protect myself and they made the call to pull me out."
The Cowboys unable to pull out the victory in Atlanta, as Prescott could only watch from the sideline.
"Very difficult," he said of not being able to finish a must-win game. "I know how much we needed this one. I wanted to just get out there and compete, and to fight. It's crazy."
And, to be clear, Prescott doesn't believe the scramble caused the hamstring injury.
In all, he's not sure what happened.
"I felt it when I was getting up from the run. I can't even say I felt it running. Maybe it was the tackle or something on the tackle. When I was standing up from that, I felt something, but didn't think it was much. It was a physical game and, a lot of times, you feel different things and then they go away. As I said, when I got to the top of my drop to throw that drop to Jalen Brooks on the right side, I felt something I've never felt.
"It was tough to go on after that point."
Prescott missed several games in 2022 due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand, the most time he has missed since suffering a catastrophic ankle injury that ended his 2020 season. He was available for all 17 regular season games in 2023, and delivered his first All-Pro season along with being named runner-up for NFL MVP, trailing only Lamar Jackson in voting.
It's unknown how much time he might miss over the remainder of the 2024 season, but any time at all would be a devastating blow to an already starved Cowboys' offense.
This is especially true after then seeing CeeDee Lamb, the record-setting All-Pro wide receiver, leave the game with a shoulder injury that also puts his status going forward in question.
"It'll take a lot for me to not be out there, I'll tell you that," said Prescott.
The Cowboys are officially holding their breath for good news on both this week.
