Steely McBeam
Well-known member
- Mar 20, 2019
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The Cowboys started their third quarterback in four games Sunday when rookie Ben DiNucci played against the Eagles.
They hope DiNucci has played his final game this season.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on his radio show Friday he expected to have Andy Dalton back in the lineup for the Week 9 game against the Steelers.
But coach Mike McCarthy said Monday that Dalton remains in concussion protocol.
“Andy hasn’t officially cleared the protocol,” McCarthy said. “Once we make it through that, we’ll announce it to you.”
Dalton was injured on an illegal hit by Washington linebacker Jon Bostic in Week 7. That forced the Cowboys to dig deep into the depth chart for Sunday, and they managed only nine points and 265 yards in the loss to the Eagles.
The Cowboys ranked third in the NFL in scoring in the five games Dak Prescott started, averaging 32.6 points per game. He went out after 44 offensive plays in Week 5 against the Giants.
In the three games since, the Cowboys have scored a total of 22 points. Their only touchdown the past three games was a 1-yard pass from Dalton to Amari Cooper with 2:48 left in a blowout loss to the Cardinals.
The Cowboys ranked first in yards with Prescott, who led the league in passing.
“No. 1, it starts with Dak,” McCarthy said of the team’s recent offensive struggles. “Anytime an offense loses its starting quarterback, especially the way Dak was playing, I mean he was playing at a high level. Obviously, a ton of production [lost], but I think also the combination of the other injuries. As we’ve talked time and time again in here, the loss to the offensive line, when you lose a number of veterans at one position, it’s obviously an added stress.”