Cowboys quarterback Prescott has surgery on hand

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had surgery on his right thumb on Monday amid reports he’ll miss six to eight weeks of the NFL season.

Prescott was injured late in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Unable to grip the ball, Prescott was examined on the sidelines and then left to have X-rays in the locker room.

“I was told it was much cleaner than it could have been,” Prescott said after the game of the injury, which team owner Jerry Jones said was a broken bone near his thumb.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said at his Monday morning press conference that the team did not yet have a timeline for Prescott’s return.

Backup Cooper Rush is pencilled in to start next Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. McCarthy said team officials were discussing the possibility of bringing a third quarterback onto the roster.

“We’re working through it,” McCarthy said. “We’re having a number of discussions right now.”

McCarthy acknowledged the emotional fallout from losing their star in the season opener.

“Dak is our quarterback, he’s one of our top leaders,” McCarthy said. “He’ll still be a part of it every day, but, yeah, it’s part of the challenge.”

It’s another setback for Prescott, who missed the final 11 games of the 2020 season with a compound fracture and dislocated ankle. He missed a game last season with a calf strain.

“It’s not the worst thing that’s happened to me,” Prescott said Sunday night. “It’s just another bump in the road and I’ll keep moving forward.”