Cowboys backup quarterbacks: Who fills in for Dak Prescott while star is sidelined?

The Dallas Cowboys are now without Dak Prescott for several weeks, leaving a glaring hole at the quarterback position for the second time in two seasons.

Prescott missed most of the 2020 season with a gruesome ankle injury and was sidelined from training camp last season with a shoulder issue. Now, the Cowboys face several more weeks without their starting quarterback who led them to the playoffs last season.

Dallas does not have the best options behind him, but the backups who are presently on the Cowboys’ roster have some experience.

Cooper Rush was QB2 to start the regular season and entered the game for Prescott when the quarterback went down. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rush was 7-for-13 with 64 passing yards and two sacks.

Rush is in his fifth season with the Cowboys after he signed as an undrafted free agent from Central Michigan. He started one game last season and helped the Cowboys to a win over the Minnesota Vikings. Rush was 24-for-40 with 325 passing yards, two touchdown passes and an interception.

He had 422 passing yards and three touchdown passes in the five appearances he made.

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Will Grier is hanging around the Cowboys’ practice squad and will likely be promoted to the main roster once Prescott goes on the injury reserve.

The former third-round pick of the Carolina Panthers joined the Cowboys at the beginning of the year, was cut and re-signed during the summer. His only played time came in 2019 when he played and started in two games, throwing for 228 yards and four interceptions. He does not have a touchdown.

A potential trade for Jimmy Garoppolo was a topic of discussion on Twitter.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback was relegated to the backup position behind Trey Lance at the beginning of the season but agreed to a restructured deal that gave him a no-trade clause. He will become a free agent at the end of the season.

Trading for Garoppolo would be a risky move as he is a proven starter in the league and the team would not necessarily want to cloud their own starting quarterback position should he do well and take the team far in this hypothetical scenario.

It is unclear when Prescott will return, but he will be missed.