Dak's Back: Rust, Emotion & Unrealistic Expectations For Prescott as Cowboys QB?

Dak's dangerously back, a Texas-sized Gold Glove, Mavs' first will last, and boo y'all hurrying Fall, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 10.21.22:

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*Dak’s back! A cautionary tale.

Dallas Cowboys fans are all agog over Sunday’s return of starting quarterback Dak Prescott. Deservedly so.

With him in uniform the Cowboys are 53-33. With him, they won 12 games and the NFC East last season behind the NFL’s highest-scoring offense.

But … a couple reasons to not expect the simple return of No. 4 against the Detroit Lions to right everything that is wrong.

First, in case our memories have short-circuited, Prescott and the offense wasn’t exactly simmering when he suffered the broken thumb. 

In the Week 1 loss Sept. 11 he had a whopping QB rating of 47.2 with more incompletions than completions and more interceptions than touchdowns.

Secondly, the last time he returned from an injury was horrendous. After last season sitting out the Bye and a game – won at Minnesota by backup Cooper Rush on Halloween – with a strained calf, Prescott started against the Denver Broncos and helped his team fall behind 30-0 in the Cowboys’ worst performance of the year. He finished 19 of 39 for 232 yards, but only two garbage-time touchdowns to Malik Turner made his performance semi-respectable.

Of course, glass-half-full fans will recall Prescott’s 2021 season-opener, when he started for the first time since his gruesome ankle injury 11 months earlier and lit up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 403 yards and three touchdowns.

"I am'' starting, Dak said on Thursday, and that's a good thing. But ...

Sunday Dak will be back. It just may take some time before he’s “back.”

*Luka Doncic made all (13 of 13) his free throws and scored 35 points, joining Jim Jackson and Dirk Nowitzki as the only Dallas Mavericks to top 35 on opening night. Newcomer Christian Wood had a dynamic debut with 25 points in 24 minutes. An ineffective Chris Paul spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench for the Phoenix Suns. The Mavs played at their pace, led by 22 points in the second half and … I still can’t comprehend how they lost Game 1, 107-105.

Oh, now I know: They missed 13 free throws, Spencer Dinwiddie got in foul trouble and Jalen Brunson is now in New York. 

I’m kidding (mostly) about Brunson. But this was the most disappointing Mavs’ opener since, hmm, let’s choose: Getting blown out by 26 last season in Atlanta? Losing to the defending champion Spurs by one when new acquisition Chandler Parsons missed a shot at the buzzer in 2014? Or when they trailed by 35 in the second half of an embarrassing rematch with the Heat on “Banner Night” in 2011? 

Blowing a 22-point lead to a team they will likely be jockeying with for Western Conference playoff seeding all season will leave a mark. This was a first that might last.

*It’s certainly not a Grand Slam. But let’s give the Texas Rangers credit for a bloop single. 

A year ago the most narrow-minded, discriminatory franchise in all of baseball whitewashed the “LGBTQ” out of “Spirit Day.” Thursday they took a small step in the right direction, sending out a tweet that at least recognized bullying can be based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” It’s not nearly as bold as the “Spirit Day” love sent out by the Yankees, Dodgers or Astros. And it’s maddening that the Rangers’ social media department can’t string together L-G-B-T-Q. But, again, this is station-to-station progress. 

Maybe they’re merely attempting to appear inclusive during their managerial search?

No one should be bullied or called names simply for being who they are, no matter your background, race, religion, ability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. #SpiritDay. pic.twitter.com/5WY7rnXyps

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 20, 2022

*Dear sweater-lovin’, pumpkin-spice-exploiting, Fall-fawning peeps … screw you! Not even Halloween and I’ve already got dry skin, a runny nose and dangit if I didn’t shock my finger touching the gas pump this week as temperatures dipped and static electricity climbed. Oh, and it’s dark at 7 p.m., headed for the end of Daylight Savings Time in two weeks. 

I’m a horrible hibernator. You’ve been warned.

*Jerry Jones “celebrated” turning 80 last week with a loss. Pretty sure he’ll never see another decade like his 50s, when the Cowboys went 114-77 with three Super Bowls. Jerry by the ages.

*I love Dallas’ Deep Ellum. The music. The art. The characters. The vibe. But when I go back, it won’t be at 1:30 a.m. Alone. There’s wrong-place-wrong-time bad luck. And then there’s voluntarily putting yourself in harm’s way.

*Three things the Rangers have never had: A World Series championship. A Cy Young winner pitcher. A Gold Glove second baseman. Given their combined 196 losses the last two seasons, the trophy is a ways off. The Cy Young will have to wait for perhaps Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker or Martin Perez. The Gold-Glove drought, however, could end Nov. 1 as Marcus Semien is one of three A.L. finalists along with Baltimore’s Jonathan Schoop and Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez. Semien, who won the award with Toronto last season, is the Rangers’ only finalist this year.

*Hot.

*Not.

*To get back in the race for the NFC East, the Cowboys must win the … NFC North? Though you likely don’t yet have your Halloween costume pinned down, the wonkiest of scheduling quirks has them not playing an opponent outside the North until you’re carving your Thanksgiving turkey. Lions-Bears-Bye-Packers-Vikings-Thanksgiving. Considering the way the Philadelphia Eagles are playing and the mediocrity of the North (a combined 11-12), it needs to be a clean 4-0 sweep. 

Dream scenario: In 2022 the Cowboys could win two division titles.

*We received an earrrrrrly Christmas this week: Dirk’s permanent statue will be unveiled outside of American Airlines Center before the Mavs host the Lakers on Christmas Day. Thank you, Santa Cuban.

*Could the Rangers’ next manager be the 67-year-old who was in the visitors’ dugout when Texas lost the 2010 World Series to the San Francisco Giants? Indeed.

*Wondering what happened to the guy who caught Aaron Judge’s 62nd home-run baseball a couple weeks ago at Globe Life Field? Smartly, Dallas’ Cory Youmans has hired a firm to represent him in a transaction that could ultimately net him a handsome financial reward.

*Wait, Luka is suing his mother in an attempt to “reclaim his name” (and, of course, trademark)?

*The Cowboys will get better before they get worse. With the returns of Prescott (Sunday) … and tight end Dalton Schultz (maybe Sunday) … and receiver James Washington (close to playing after suffering a broken foot 11 weeks ago) … and offensive lineman Tyron Smith (expected back from a torn hamstring in December).

*The world we live in today sounds unfathomably ominous. For not if – but when – there is another school shooting in Texas, schools are sending parents DNA kits to help identify their children in case of … It’s really really bad that this idea is good.

*Tony Dorsett. Emmitt Smith. And, as of last Sunday night, Ezekiel Elliott. That’s the exclusive club of Cowboys’ running backs to amass 10,000+ yards from scrimmage.

*What do us tennis geeks think of pickleball? I’ve got the new fad’s marketing slogan right here: “Pickleball … when you’re too old for tennis.” The progression goes something like this: basketball … volleyball … tennis … pickleball … ping pong … checkers … casket.

*Wanna make money betting on the NFL? Don’t overthink it. Entering Week 7 underdogs are 56-37-1.

*This Weekend? Friday let’s play some hoop with Big Brothers Big Sister lil’ bro Ja. Saturday let’s play some tennis. Sunday let’s visit the parents down in JoCoMoFo. As always, don’t be a stranger.

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