<
        >

          NFL Nation

          Dak Prescott's growth evident in his incompletions

          play
          Stephen A. laughs off Cowboys' backup QB competition (1:43)

          Stephen A. Smith isn't worried about who will back up Dak Prescott in Dallas since Prescott isn't as injury-prone as Tony Romo was. (1:43)

          • Todd Archer, ESPN Staff WriterAug 22, 2017, 11:20 PM
            Close
              Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow him on Twitter at @toddarcher.
            Follow on X

          FRISCO, Texas -- One of the things the Dallas Cowboys like about Dak Prescott is his decision-making.

          On Monday, he purposely was wide on a check down to Ezekiel Elliott in team drills. On Tuesday, he purposely threw low to Jason Witten, seeing safety Jeff Heath jump to the outside of the tight end with time running out. The incompletion allowed the Cowboys to try a 56-yard field goal by Dan Bailey.

          Prescott completed 17 of 20 passes in team and 7-on-7 drills and that included a spike to stop the clock, so his only true incompletion of the day came on a throw that was off to Witten.

          In red-zone work, Prescott threw touchdown passes on consecutive drives. His first was a screen to Elliott, who lined up wide to the left. With three offensive linemen leading the way, Elliott almost went untouched into the end zone.

          His second touchdown came on a slant to Dez Bryant, who got underneath Anthony Brown, but was set up by a nice play-action seam throw to Witten.

          In 16 padded practices, Prescott is 191-of-264 in team and 7-on-7 drills.

          In other news on Tuesday:

          • Bryant took some turns returning punts for the first time in training camp. Bryant remains an emergency option in the regular season.

          • It's good to see veterans pay respect to each other. Witten was able to beat LB Sean Lee on a double move; Lee bumped fists with Witten, acknowledging he got beat even if Witten didn't get the ball. Lee did not take any team drills late in practice.

          • DT Maliek Collins put on a clinic in one-on-one drills. Twice he was able to beat Chaz Green, once with power and the other with quick hands. On his last snap, Collins buried Kadeem Edwards with a bull rush that landed the offensive lineman on his back.

          • In the backup quarterback world, Cooper Rush got the first crack at running the Cowboys' No. 2 offense as he and Kellen Moore split reps. Rush took eight second-team snaps to seven for Moore. Rush had a fade route to Brice Butler deflected by CB Duke Thomas and end up in the arms of LB Kennan Gilchrist for an interception.

          • QB Luke McCown took some team snaps with the No. 3 offense for the first time since injuring his shoulder against the Los Angeles Rams.

          • With Stephen Paea working through knee soreness, veteran Cedric Thornton took the first-team snaps at nose tackle. He did a nice job holding up Green on an Elliott run up the middle.

          • If form holds like it did in Oxnard, California, Witten, RB Darren McFadden, OT Tyron Smith, Bryant, CB Orlando Scandrick and Lee will not practice on Wednesday. The vets have not practiced three consecutive days all summer.

          • WR Ryan Switzer was again limited to just individual drills as he works his way back from a hamstring strain. In order to play Saturday, you would think he will need some action in team drills the next two days.