While Dak Prescott was getting X-rays on his injured right hand, Ryan Switzer was returning a punt 83 yards for a touchdown. It prevented the Cowboys quarterback from missing a snap.
Asked if he thanked Switzer, Prescott said, “Well, he kind of gypped Coop [backup quarterback Cooper Rush]. Coop didn’t get his reps.”
Rush, a rookie, was warmed up and ready to enter a meaningful game for the first time in his career. But X-rays on Prescott were negative, and the timing of Switzer’s return allowed Prescott to get back on the field the next time the Cowboys had the ball.
“Cooper Rush would have gone into the ball game at that point, but we got the return,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “Dak was able to come back out. He felt good enough where he could grip the ball, and he was able to play the last series of the first half.
“He’s a tough guy, and he plays the game the right way.”
Prescott’s throwing hand got hit on an option play before he pitched the ball to running back Rod Smith for a 1-yard gain in the second quarter. Prescott stayed in the game for three more plays that series before an examination on the sideline gave the team’s medical staff pause.
Although Prescott left the locker room with his right hand in a wrap, he played all 65 plays, and the Cowboys expect him to be fully healed in time for the team’s December 10 game against the Giants.
“It’s good,” Prescott said. “Just initially got hit on it. It bruised up and I felt it swell a little bit at the time. . . . We’ve got great trainers and doctors. They wrapped it up, fixed it up and we were ready to go.”
The Cowboys had 93 net passing yards, the first time in team history they won a game with fewer than 100 passing yards.