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Cowboys' Dak Prescott on Recent Criticism: 'I’ve Been Doubted My Whole Life'
December 16, 2021
The Dallas Cowboys are 2-2 in their last four games, and although Dak Prescott has received plenty of criticism, the star quarterback isn't letting it get to him.
"I’d be lying if I said I haven’t heard [the criticism]," Prescott told reporters Thursday. "But I’ve been doubted my whole life. ... So, in a sense, I’m kind of glad it’s actually come back. I’m glad that’s the way people feel and there’s a lot of that being said right now."
Prescott's comments come after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday that he didn't want to say the quarterback was in a "slump."
"I don't want to say 'slump,' but that's probably fair," Jones said, per Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper. "But it's such a multi-faceted evaluation that I would say that our offense is definitely away from where we were playing five and six games ago from the standpoint of production. What the opposing defenses [have] to do with it needs to be considered."
The recent criticism of Prescott is definitely warranted, though. Through the first six weeks of the season, the 28-year-old completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 1,813 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions en route to a 5-1 record.
Since returning from a calf injury that caused him to miss a Week 8 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, Prescott has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 1,568 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions.
Despite the dip in numbers, Prescott insists he's healthy. Jones also said during his radio appearance that the Mississippi State product is healthy and that he's confident Prescott will turn things around in the coming weeks.
“He will figure it out,” Jones said. “That’s the key thing here. He has no superior in working on it, studying it, taking it to the practice field, repetition. He’s as good or better than anybody I’ve ever seen and so he will mentally and physically rep this through.”
Despite Prescott being in a slump, the Cowboys still sit atop the NFC East with a 9-4 record. They have a comfortable lead over the Washington Football Team (6-7), Philadelphia Eagles (6-7) and New York Giants (4-9).
Dallas enters the final stretch of the season with three matchups against divisional opponents and one against the Arizona Cardinals. Seeing as how the Cowboys have wins over each of their division rivals, Prescott and Co. should have no issue getting back on track.