Cowboys QB Dak Prescott officially out of Washington game, return likely against Rams or Eagles

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is out of Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders.

Not that there was a realistic chance of him playing anyway.

Prescott, who missed the last two games after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured right thumb on Sept. 12, had the stitches removed on Monday. But two days after refusing to declare himself out of the Washington game, the math did it for him.

Prescott said won’t start throwing until the end of the week. He has been soft tossing but he has yet to cut anything loose.

It is keeping with owner Jerry Jones’ timeline that Prescott is one or two weeks away from returning to the field.

There is a chance he could play at the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 9 but the most realistic date appears to be the at the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 16.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said Prescott has been conditioning since the first week after surgery. It’s just a matter of the getting the swelling out and throwing now.

“He’ll just continue on the path with the cardiovascular,” McCarthy said. “But now that he has the stitches out, the next step is to get the swelling totally out of the joint and the thumb area and start to build his strength so he can grip the football. That’s the next step.”

What’s his timetable?

“Do I look like the timetable guy,” McCarthy said with a laugh.

What we do know is Cooper Rush will continue as the team’s starting quarterback until Prescott returns.

Rush has kept the the Cowboys’ season afloat after the season-opening loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the injury to Prescott.

He engineer wins against the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants.

He now 3-0 in his career as a starter in place Prescott, including a comeback victory against the Minnesota Vikings in his first career start last season.

Rush joins Hall of Famer Roger Staubach and Jason Garrett as the only Cowboys starting QBs to win their first three career starts.

If he beats the Washington on Sunday, Rush will become the first quarterback in Cowboys history to win his first four games as a starter.

How has he done it?

“We talk about his intelligence,” McCarthy said. “But he is very very high in instinct and awareness. He anticipates things very well. His ability to throw it early, get the ball out and anticipate. I think you seeing him have more and more confidence with every opportunity he has. He is just playing to his strengths.”