FRISCO, Texas – With one game left in the 2025 regular season and the Cowboys already eliminated from the playoffs, that isn't stopping Dak Prescott from taking the field as the starting quarterback.
That said, Prescott knows he may not play the whole game, and admitted that it does change preparation leading into the game a bit. Still, the goal is the same when he's on the field and he doesn't feel the need to force anything.
"Just stick to the way that I play the game," Prescott said. "I'm not gonna try to do too much early and make some big plays so I can get out of the game. If he says two touchdowns or three touchdowns or this score, you're coming out, that may put a little bit pressure. But me not knowing when it is, and if it is, just go in and play my game and be smart."
Should head coach Brian Schottenheimer and the Cowboys look to pull Prescott early, that'll mean that backup QB Joe Milton gets the call and will likely the most snaps in a regular season game thus far in first season with Dallas. What does Prescott want to see from the second-year quarterback?
"Just command, from the moment he takes the field, just him commanding the huddle," Prescott said. "All of the presnap, everything, just want it to be super clean presnap and then just come out of this game happy with the performance that he put on from himself… He's been developing all year long, so I know he's going to go out there and have a great game, I just want him to be happy with his performance."
Speaking of performance, Prescott's this season has been amongst the best of his career. It's also among the best in the NFL statistically, as he enters Week 18 leading the league in passing yards with 4,482. The Rams' Matthew Stafford is close behind with 4,448 yards.
A Cowboys QB has never led the league in passing in the franchise's history. It's an accolade that Prescott certainly wouldn't mind adding to his resume, but won't be a driving force behind his performance.
"It would be cool, but I'm just playing the game," Prescott said. "I'm not going to try to chase it. I'm not going out there and throw it every time. It may actually be opposite of that, just trying to play a smart game, clean game, most importantly get a win. The records will come if they come."
The best game record that the Cowboys can finish the season with on Sunday is 8-8-1. It comes after a long and difficult year for Prescott and his teammates, who had plenty on their plates over the year with the team trading Micah Parsons, yesterday's waiving of Trevon Diggs and the heartbreaking loss of their teammate Marshawn Kneeland.
Prescott, who is viewed as one of if not the biggest leader in the locker room, admitted that it's been frustrating and tough at times over the course of the year with everything on and off the field. Still, he looks to keep pushing and guiding his teammates in the right direction.
"It goes back to me as a leader trying to figure out ways to influence other guys in the locker room," Prescott said. "Not just on offense but on defense and influence everything from the way they approach the game and the way they treat life at home and just letting them know important all that is, and it goes hand in hand when you're trying to be the best player on the field."
In year one under first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer, Prescott feels the team now knows what's expected and can go into next season with momentum because of it.
"We've had a good year one under our belt," Prescott said. "We know what we want to do, we know how we want to attack. I'm pretty sure we can get into this offseason and figure out these were our weaknesses, we need to get better here and create some more strengths there, but we should definitely be able to take a big jump."
As for what areas of weakness the Cowboys to turn into strengths, Prescott believes there was meat left on the bone in the red zone offense, which also played into shortcomings in other areas like struggles scoring in the second half down the stretch of the season.
"We got down to the red zone, we just didn't score regardless of which half it was in," Prescott said. "So definitely red zone scoring. I think as much as anything, you've got to look at the 31 other teams and look at the red zone and how they scored. This league's trendy, and sometimes it is just stealing plays from another team dressing it up different."
A large part of making that a strength, and keeping the offense strong next season in general, is Prescott's two elite receivers in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. The Cowboys will need to bring Pickens back one way or another as he's a free agent, one that Prescott has been a loud advocate for keeping. If they do, Prescott believes the new ways the offense can use the both of them in 2026 can be even more explosive than it was in 2025.
"I won't necessarily say get those guys the ball more, they're definitely getting it and making the most of it, but we've got to just use their abelites with the ball and without the ball to maximize our efforts. And I know if we do that, this'll be a dangerous offense because those are special players."
