FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott wants to avoid surgery so the star quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys can play again this season after tearing a hamstring, owner Jerry Jones said Friday.
Jones confirmed on his radio show that Prescott's hamstring was partially torn off the bone, an injury known as a partial avulsion.
A full tear of the tendon off the bone requires surgery, and that’s what happened two years ago in training camp when former Dallas left tackle Tyron Smith missed 13 games. In Prescott’s case, Jones said it could be a few weeks before it is known whether surgery will be required.
The injury happened in last week's 27-21 loss to Atlanta. Cooper Rush will start in Prescott's place Sunday against NFC East rival Philadelphia (6-2) with the defending division champion Cowboys (3-5) trying to to stay in the playoff race after qualifying with 12-5 records each of the past three seasons.
“He’s got to have some weeks off of it before he can see if it really does require surgery,” Jones said on his radio show. “He doesn’t want surgery. He wants to be on the field and go for it. He’s weighing that. We’re weighing that.”
Stephen Jones, Jerry's son and the Cowboys' executive vice president of personnel, said on his radio show later Friday that Prescott would be placed on injured reserve. The move will sideline the 31-year-old at least four games, and Prescott is likely to be out longer than that.
“Obviously a tough, tough situation, losing him for that period of time,” Stephen Jones said. “But we're going to do what's in the best interest of Dak and right now I don't think anyone knows whether it'll be four weeks, six weeks or the season.”
Rush was 4-1 as the starter two years ago when Prescott was out after breaking the thumb on his throwing hand in a season-opening loss. Rush also won a game in 2021 when Prescott had a calf strain.
A new element to replacing Prescott is the presence of Trey Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 draft by San Francisco. The 49ers traded him to the Cowboys last year after Lance lost the battle for the backup job, and he has been the third QB for Dallas since then.
Lance took the vast majority of the snaps in the preseason so coach Mike McCarthy and his staff could evaluate a 24-year-old who is on an expiring rookie contract.
McCarthy has indicated he would stick with Rush the same way he has with Prescott, therefore shying away from packages that might incorporate Lance, who is by far the most mobile of the three QBs.
Jerry Jones suggested otherwise on his radio show for an offense that has struggled even with a healthy Prescott and has the second-worst rushing attack in the NFL.
“Oh, there is a window for Trey Lance,” Jones said. “There's packages that we can work on. Let me be clear, that's not just to get Lance some play time. That's to bring to the table some offense for us.”
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones walks on the field before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/ Brynn Anderson)
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) carries during the second half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/ Brynn Anderson)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The person inside the Tesla Cybertruck that burst into flames outside President-elect Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel suffered a gunshot to the head before the explosion, officials said Thursday.
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference that a handgun was found at the feet of the man who's been identified as Matthew Livelsberger. Officials believe the shot was self-inflicted.
Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners, the Army said in a statement. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said.
He was awarded two Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor. Livelsberger was on approved leave when he died, according to the statement.
The FBI said Thursday in a post on X that it was “conducting law enforcement activity” at a home in Colorado Springs related to Wednesday's explosion but provided no other details.
The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 15 people before being shot to death by police. That crash was being investigated as a terrorist attack. The FBI said Thursday that they believe Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others.
Both Livelsberger and Jabbar spent time at the base formerly known as Fort Bragg, a massive Army base in North Carolina that is home to multiple Army special operations units. However, one of the officials who spoke to the AP said there is no overlap in their assignments at the base, now called Fort Liberty.
Chris Raia, FBI deputy assistant director, said Thursday that officials have found ‘no definitive link’ between the New Orleans attack and the truck explosion in Las Vegas.
Seven people nearby suffered minor injuries when the Tesla truck exploded. Video showed a tumble of charred fireworks mortars, canisters and other explosive devices crowded into the back of the pickup. The truck bed walls were still intact because the blast shot straight up rather than to the sides.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday afternoon on X that “we have now confirmed that the explosion was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck and is unrelated to the vehicle itself."
"All vehicle telemetry was positive at the time of the explosion,” Musk wrote.
Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.
Authorities know who rented the truck with the Turo app in Colorado, Kevin McMahill, the elected sheriff of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said Wednesday. He did not release the person’s ID, however.
Copp, Richer and Long contributed from Washington.
Investigators enter a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
Investigators stand outside a townhouse complex in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Police block the area after a vehicle caught fire and exploded outside the lobby of President-elect Donald Trump's hotel Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
