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Dak Prescott's play lets Dallas Cowboys be patient with Tony Romo

By The Sports Xchange
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) looks to pass against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on September 18, 2016. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
1 of 2 | Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) looks to pass against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland on September 18, 2016. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

FRISCO, Texas -- The game is not too big for Dak Prescott.

The Dallas Cowboys' rookie quarterback is showing that he can play in the NFL and is not awed by the moment.

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Prescott said he feels as if he belongs on this stage even if it is supposedly just on the interim basis until starter Tony Romo returns from a fractured bone in his back.

Dallas went 1-11 without Tony Romo last season. The Cowboys are 2-1 this season after Prescott on Sunday became the first Cowboys backup quarterback to win at AT&T Stadium since Jon Kitna.

Romo will miss at least three more games while a compression fracture in his back heals.

"He has an even-keeled personality," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday of Prescott. "He has great poise and composure as a person, and he is a very serious-minded guy in terms of his preparation, so he focuses on the right things."

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Prescott has gotten better with each game. He has not thrown an interception in three games, a span of 99 passes. That is the second-longest streak in NFL history behind the current 102-pass stretch by the Philadelphia Eagles' Carson Wentz.

Prescott ranks 12th in passer rating at 93.3, completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 767 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. The Cowboys ranked eighth in total offense and 10th in scoring before the Monday night game.

"It's challenging, because we haven't just simply run the football," Garrett said. "He's done a lot of really good things throwing the football in each of the three games. He's made a lot of big plays for us. He's handled those situations well, and he's been in some challenging situations.

Prescott scrambles against the Chicago Bears on September 25, 2016. Photo by Ian Halperin/UPI
"We haven't just put the handcuffs on him, if you will. We just let him play, and he's done a good job handling that work. He's seen a lot of different fronts, a lot of different covers, a lot of different pressures. The guys who can process that and see what they need to see and go through the progressions and make good decisions are the ones who play best regardless of how old you are and how many games you've played."
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While Prescott and the Cowboys have made it clear that the job belongs to Romo once the veteran returns to health, Prescott's play allows the team time to be patient with Romo's rehab.

"Those wins will give you a little more conservative timeframe if you looked at Tony's condition," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Sunday night after Dallas' 31-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. "Under no circumstances would he go out there if there was risk.

"Let's get that real straight. But as far as the ability to give him more time, medicine wants more time, and they'll tell you, well, he'll be better off two months from now than he is today. Medicine says that, and we all accept it. But I think the fact that (Prescott is) playing well, and if playing well gives us a chance to have another win that we wouldn't have had if he wouldn't have played well, all of that would enter into the decision."

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