Jerry Jones explains why Dak Prescott is hesitant to use his legs

Dak Prescott doesn't use his legs as much as he used to, and Jerry Jones believes that's the right call.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

When Dak Prescott played at Mississippi State, he used his legs often. He even flirted with 1,000 yards in 2014, going for 986 with 14 touchdowns on the ground. He never ran that much for the Dallas Cowboys, but he still used his legs early in his career.

Prescott had at least 277 yards rushing in each of his first four seasons and scored 21 touchdowns on the ground. Then in 2020, he suffered a broken ankle in Week 5 and was slow to take off once he returned to action.

Since 2021, he's never had more than two rushing touchdowns in a season and this year, he has just 24 yards on the ground. That's led to questions since the offense needs some type of spark, and perhaps a few first downs courtesy of Prescott's legs would help.

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According to team owner Jerry Jones, however, Prescott is doing the right thing by avoiding the run. Jones believes his franchise quarterback is being smart and avoiding an injury by trying to stay in the pocket.

"You really don't want to see him... you don't want to see him really take off with that ball. These quarterbacks that run, you know they're going to get injured. And that happens. It happens to the youngest. It happens to the best. It's happened to Dak. To the end that we rely on him to stay healthy, that's an important part of it. I wouldn't say it's up there in red letters in the practice facility 'don't run', but I would say that we want him to be smart about it. And he is being smart about. He will, when he sees the opportunity, pull it down and run with it as we know." — Jones on 105.3 The Fan, via RJ Ochoa

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Jones is correct that QBs can get injured more when they run the ball, but let's be honest — thanks to this offensive line, Prescott is getting hit just as much in the pocket as he would running. Maybe sprinkling in a run now and then wouldn't be the worst idea.

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