Dak Prescott’s rehab inspired his rehabbing teammates

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The return to health of quarterback Dak Prescott, right tackle La'el Collins and left tackle Tyron Smith has the Cowboys fired up about what 2021 could hold for the offense and the team. Prescott missed 11 games, Collins 16 and Smith 14 in 2020. In addition, right guard Zack Martin missed six games.

Prescott’s rehab from a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle allowed him to participate in the offseason program.

The way the two-time Pro Bowler attacked his rehab inspired his teammates.

“For me, the way Dak worked throughout the whole offseason — the way he pushed himself, the way he came back and is able to be on the field with everybody else — it’s amazing,” Smith, a seven-time Pro Bowl player, who is returning from neck surgery, said, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It lights a fire under you to like, ‘Hey, push a little bit harder.’ If your quarterback is going to push like that, we’ve got to push the same way or even harder for him. It’s motivational to do what he does.”

Prescott rehabbed with the offensive linemen, serving as a leader with the tone he set.

“In a situation like that, I’m going to lead by example,” Prescott said. “For me, it was really about just showing those guys how I work and just doing that by concentrating on getting this injury better and I feel like if they needed to see a leader, if they needed something from me, they could have got it from just the way that I approach the day.

“It’s just building that confidence, that camaraderie in each other and just commitment, true commitment, from grinding from the rehab and the injuries. But not only that, just doing the rest of the stuff that the team’s doing to make sure we’re all better than we were before we got injured.”