Cooper Rush won the job during the 2017 preseason. He won’t lose it in the 2018 preseason.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Tuesday he is comfortable with Rush as Dak Prescott‘s backup.
“Just his body of work since he’s been with us,” Garrett said. “He was in that role for us last year and handled it well.”
The Cowboys have no plans to seek a veteran quarterback despite Rush’s struggles this preseason. Of course, Prescott has not missed a start in his two seasons.
Rush, who beat out Kellen Moore a year ago by completing 38 of 51 passes for 398 yards and six touchdowns in four games, has gone 32-of-49 for 275 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He gets another chance Thursday in the preseason finale against the Texans.
In Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, Rush went 11-for-17 for 93 yards with two interceptions, one of which Patrick Peterson returned for a touchdown, and a 39.2 passer rating.
“There were some good things in the game and obviously there were some bad plays,” Garrett said. “You know, he’ll learn from those experiences. He’ll learn how to handle some of the situations better as he goes forward. One of the most impressive things about him since we’ve gotten him is his maturity, how smart he is, how poised and composed he is. When you’re in some challenging situations, all of that gets tested. At times, I thought he handled it really well. Other times, he didn’t handle it well enough. Again, you go back through it play by play, you try to put the play in context and try to understand where his mindset might have been, did the previous play affect him, did the situation affect him, did the fact we weren’t moving the ball affect him and then hopefully he learns from that experience. That’s part of the maturation process.”