A buzz emerged in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s radio appearance by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas that he compared quarterback Dak Prescott in unfavorable terms to the likes of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and former Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Based on the words actually uttered by Jones, that’s not the case.
Jones was addressing the mobility of certain quarterbacks, which allows them to extend plays that otherwise may be over. He didn’t say Prescott had less ability in that regard; Jones put Prescott in their class.
“Obviously with their quarterback [Mahomes], who I think is at the highest level right now because of his, frankly, as much as just his natural ability to make plays, his mobility,” Jones said. “And this guy’s very quick and elusive and can get in and out of situations with his feet and buy time. The quarterback we played Sunday [Russell Wilson] is of that kind of nature. He’s very, has great ability to get in and out and then make the play, that play Dak made at the end of the game that got intercepted. Well the result of Dak’s ability that let him get that ball off was really great and outstanding. Well, these guys do that, have that ability a lot.
“They are very quick-footed and they are very, they have the unique ability to possibly take their eyes away from the field for a minute and then immediately focus back and see, [Tony] Romo had that.
“And so he can turn his back on it and turn around and hand-eye and get it done quick. And so those are things that show up and that’s what’s showing up with these guys. They’re buying time with their feet, or buying time with their instincts and their feet.”
So that’s what Jones said. And none of it amounted to criticism of Prescott, or a suggestion that other quarterbacks wouldn’t have thrown an interception at the end of the game. Although, arguably, Prescott could have run the ball, gotten out of bounds, and had another shot at the end zone in lieu of throwing the ball into a cluster of too many bodies that resulted in the interception, his raw athletic ability allowed him to escape a sack that quite likely would have been followed by the clock running out before the Cowboys could snap the ball on what would have been fourth and 26 from the Seattle 38, since the clock showed 11 seconds when Dak stumbled, the Cowboys had no timeouts, and the receiver would have had to sprint back from the end zone to get set for the final play.
UPDATE 11:47 p.m. ET: After actually hearing the audio, I’ve had a change of heart. As explained here.