FRISCO, Texas – The timeline is coming into clearer focus for Dak Prescott's return to action.
Prescott was discharged from the hospital on Monday after undergoing successful surgery on his fractured ankle. During a Tuesday morning interview on 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones was asked if he had an idea of when the star quarterback would be able to return to the field.
"If you look ahead, he should be ready to go for our spring work – the latter part of the spring work," Jones said. "But knowing Dak – and that's a big part of this thing – knowing Dak and his makeup, he'll be back out there soon."
Jones isn't the first person to acknowledge the role that Prescott's own drive will play in this process. On Monday night, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said he thought Prescott would "challenge any timeline" the team's medical staff puts in front of him.
Because of that, it's hard to pinpoint an exact date he might be ready to return. But from listening to Jones, it sounds like it's reasonable to think that Prescott will be healthy when the Cowboys get into their OTAs next spring.
"Physically, I'm told by the doctors by our own experience of seeing this injury, physically there should be no problem with him being back out there in early May or April," Jones said.
That's welcome news after seeing how gruesome the injury looked. Although, it does raise interesting questions about the future.
Prescott is obviously only under contract for this season, as he was playing on the one-year franchise tag. It stands to reason that the team will have to tag him again during his recovery, as the deadline to use the franchise tag typically comes before the start of the new league year.
From there, it'll be interesting to see if the sides can come to terms on a long-term agreement, or whether Prescott might once again have to prove himself on a one-year contract.
Regardless of how it plays out, Jones was adamant that Prescott's injury doesn't change the organization's conviction to keep him as its starting quarterback. As has been the case for a while now, Jones said it's simply about making the numbers work.
"Dak is deserving of anything you want to put on a piece of paper, relatively speaking," he said. "He's deserving of that, and he's, if you evaluate what he can do to help us win championships, you can see that it's there. Plus, he's a leader at the premier leader spot. We've got make it work."
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