Cowboys' Dak Prescott Day-to-Day With Shoulder Injury Diagnosed as Strain

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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott left Wednesday's practice and underwent an MRI that revealed a muscle strain in his right shoulder, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. 

Per the team, he'll be evaluated day to day. According to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, the quarterback suffered a latissimus strain, which could result in him missing "a few weeks."

Prescott addressed the injury in a statement, per Moore:

“I felt some soreness when making certain throws today, and I really just decided not to push things too far. Better to be cautious and smart about it. I don’t see this as any kind of serious setback. We’ll treat it on a daily basis and I’ll be fine.’'

According to Nick Eatman of the team's website, Prescott only made it through a few drills before leaving the field. Team officials said the starting quarterback "felt soreness in his throwing arm and didn't want to push it with deep throws today."

It was Prescott's first fully padded practice. ESPN's Todd Archer noted that, "In the first four practices of training camp, Prescott unofficially completed 50 of 78 passes in team drills. He was intercepted three times on Tuesday."

Not exactly the start to training camp Prescott would have wanted after missing most of last season with a gruesome dislocated and compound fracture of his right ankle. But while any throwing shoulder soreness isn't ideal, Cowboys fans will be relieved Wednesday's exit wasn't related to his previous injury. 

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And by all accounts, the soreness doesn't sound too serious. 

"He told me and Blake [Jarwin] at some point, 'Hey, I'm going to go in and do my treatment stuff and make sure this is all right,'" tight end Dalton Schultz told reporters regarding Prescott. "I mean, [backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert] does a great job in getting us going. Next man up, so I'm glad he was able to step out and do what he needed to do. It's like the second week of training camp. You don't need to be out there throwing with a sore arm."

Gilbert took over during the 11-on-11 portion of practice. 

"It's part of being a backup quarterback," he said. "You've got to always be ready to step in at any point. That's all it was today, an opportunity to step in there and get some reps with the one."

Any aspirations the Cowboys have for the 2021 season start and end with Prescott, who signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension this offseason. In games without him last year the Cowboys went just 4-7, relying on Andy Dalton, Gilbert and Ben DiNucci in his stead.