Cowboys likely to place Dak on IR, Jones says

The Dallas Cowboys likely will place quarterback Dak Prescott on injured reserve due to the hamstring injury he sustained in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Jerry Jones said Tuesday.

The move would sideline Prescott for at least the next four games. The earliest he would be eligible to return would be a “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14.

The Cowboys owner and general manager made his comments in his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan.

“It’s an extended period of time here,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t dare make a prediction when it could be. We’ll see kind of how his rehab goes.”

On Monday, coach Mike McCarthy was only prepared to say Prescott would not play in Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

A source had told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday that Prescott’s injury was expected to sideline the quarterback for several weeks.

Cooper Rush will take over as the starting quarterback starting this Sunday, with Trey Lance as his backup.

Since 2020, Prescott has missed games with a dislocation and fracture of his right ankle, a right calf strain and a broken right thumb.

Rush went 4-1 as the Cowboys’ starter in 2022 after Prescott suffered the thumb injury in the season opener. The Cowboys did not score more than 25 points in any of Rush’s starts, but the defense allowed more than 20 points just once. His lone loss came against the Eagles, when he was intercepted three times.

For his career, Rush is 5-1 as a starter.

“There’s no question that Dak’s injury is setback,” Jones said. “But we’ve seen Cooper do it. We know what we need to do, the strategies on the offense. We just need to come together game by game, use all of our players to the extent that it helps us.”

ESPN’s Todd Archer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.