Todd ArcherESPN Staff Writer4 Minute Reading
Orlovsky: Dak needs to be aggressive, not cautious for the Cowboys
Dan Orlovsky breaks down how Dak Prescott has styled his game this season to be effective.
FRISCO, Texas — Coming off a year in which he tied for the NFL lead in interceptions, despite missing five games, and seeing the departures of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and close friend Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is ready for the 2023 start Sunday against the New York Giants.
“Our plan is now; just going out there and practicing it. Obviously, we’re going to cross our T’s and dot our I’s and iron out the rest of it over the next few days, but my comfort level is all over the place. – long hours,” Prescott said after Thursday’s practice.
Prescott will have to learn a modified offense with changes implemented by new playcaller Mike McCarthy to what the quarterback calls the “Texas Coast” offense, a combination of West Coast philosophies in the head coach and what the Cowboys have done over the years.
“Definitely ready to start the season, no doubt,” McCarthy said. “I think as a person, he is very focused every day. I think his discipline and approach to life, especially professional football, is the highest. So I know it , he definitely takes advantage of every opportunity to learn, openly evaluate, and then implement new things, I’m really impressed with his work in the offseason preparing for this opportunity. Yes, I would definitely say that he is ready to go.”
Prescott had 15 interceptions in the regular season a year ago and had two more in the playoffs, leading to a high level of scrutiny from outside the organization if not inside. Prescott missed 17 games over the past three seasons due to injury but did not miss the offseason program or training camp, although he did not see action in the preseason.
“If I give credit to people’s opinions, I wouldn’t have made it this far in my life, in this league,” Prescott said. “Everybody has an opinion. For me, it’s about focusing on what I can do with this team, the guys and the guys we have, and I can’t control everybody’s narrative, what they trying to do … It’s about turning the page and writing a new sentence. The pen is in our hands and we’re ready to do that.”
Prescott has won 10 straight games against the Giants after losing twice to the division rivals Cowboys as a rookie in 2016. He had 23 touchdown passes and seven interceptions with 3,147 yards on 261-of- 407 passing game against the Giants.
Prescott’s hitting streak against New York is the second-longest active streak. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have beaten the Denver Broncos 11 in a row. Since the 1970 merger, there have been 14 regular season winning streaks of 10 games or more by a starting quarterback.
With a win Sunday, Prescott would tie Roger Staubach for the longest hitting streak against the Giants since at least 1950, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“This is a great team,” Prescott said of the Giants. “To give them respect and just do what I’ve done every year, every time I play these guys, prepare my ass to go into this game and just prepare for whatever they have. But they have my respect. It’s always fun playing in New York, and definitely playing them at their place.”
As Prescott opens his eighth year as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, he looks to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs for the first time. The Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl or advanced to the NFC Championship Game since 1995.
He was asked if he was thinking about Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas in February at the start of the season.
“I know where we want to go,” Prescott said. “I keep that in the front of my mind, even the playlist I play on my phone to name one thing that reminds me. I have a lot of little different reminders that remind me of Vegas, remind me of where I am Want to be there by the end of this year. But in the same sense, it’s about being there and taking each day. I know there’s no way I’m going to get there unless I give it my all every day, and that’s more focused than [the Super Bowl] is the. But sometimes, when it’s hard, when you’re making sacrifices, when the days are long, you want to [those] reminders, so I put things here and there.”