No More Dak 'Pitch Count'; It's Full-Go For Cowboys QB

FRISCO - The soreness. The time. The rest. The "ramp-up.'' The "pitch count.''

It's all over now.

“I thought he looked great,'' said Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore on Thursday at The Star, reflecting back on QB Dak Prescott's previous day's practice. "We’re not looking at anything from a limitation standpoint ... We're just playing ball at this point."

Moore added: "We're fired up."

Understandably so, as Prescott - who has been limited for almost a month after experiencing soreness in his throwing shoulder back in Oxnard on July 28 - participated Wednesday in multiple series of 11-on-11's, completing 11 of 12 passes (the only incompletion a bat-down at the line of scrimmage), running an RPO, making all the throws ...

Just playing ball.

"He's a caged lion," Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said of his franchise QB before being allowed to practice on Wednesday. "He's a competitor."

READ MORE: Practice Report: 'Caged Lion' Dak, Pro Bowl K Moved, RB to IR

Prescott's competitiveness made the waiting all the more difficult - but it's likely his "go-go-go'' approach (his words) that caused the shoulder soreness in the first place. His rehab from 2020 season-ending ankle surgery was extremely aggressive ... and maybe he threw a bit too much in the time leading up to training camp.

But the ankle issue is, as he said, "buried'' now. And so is the shoulder issue.

Dallas' preseason plans for Prescott were altered by the shoulder soreness (technically a muscle strain in his lat); he'd previously said he wanted to play at Arizona in preseason Game 2, and then planned on playing last week against Houston in preseason Game 3, where he instead sat again.

With only one preseason game left to play for the Cowboys (Jacksonville visits on Sunday), Prescott is now all about prepping for Week 1 at Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Bucs in the NFL's opening game on Sept. 9.

Just playing ball.

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