National Football League

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott expected to return to practice Wednesday

Updated Oct. 17, 2022 7:31 p.m. ET

Dak Prescott's return to the practice field is imminent. The Cowboys quarterback is expected to be cleared by medical staff Monday or Tuesday, putting him on track to practice Wednesday, coach Mike McCarthy told reporters.

"I think we've checked the boxes," McCarthy said. "He has a [throwing] plan for tomorrow. And then we'll spin that into a full throwing mode on Wednesday."

That opens the door for Prescott to potentially play Sunday against the Lions, which would mark six weeks since he broke his thumb in Week 1 versus the Buccaneers. On Monday, McCarthy hedged on that front, using "if" verbiage when discussing the possibility of Prescott's playing this weekend.

The Cowboys (4-2) won their first four games with Cooper Rush behind center before falling this past Sunday against the unbeaten Eagles. Rush has completed 90-of-156 pass attempts (57.7%) for 1,020 yards and five TDs with three interceptions (all against Philly) in his six appearances.

Prescott, meanwhile, struggled in the season opener before injuring his thumb. He completed just 14-of-29 passes for 134 yards with an interception while leading the offense to just a field goal.

"The final threshold is always you have return to play, but then there’s the timing," McCarthy said. "You’ve got to get the timing. That’s for any position. When you look at players who return to play, they’re cleared medically to play, but if you don’t just totally feel the timing is quite there, they may need another week. That’s why if you look at the regimentation of how we’ve been bringing Dak back, obviously we’ve been following the medical process of it, but we’ve been trying to do as much throwing, particularly the routes on air, the individual route running, as much as we can."

Dallas is currently in third in the NFC East yet boasts the fourth-best record in the conference.