McCarthy: 'No urgency' for Prescott to play during preseason

Dallas Cowboys fans may need to wait until the season opener to see Dak Prescott on the field for the first time in almost a year.

Although Prescott's shoulder has been healing well, head coach Mike McCarthy isn't ready to guarantee his quarterback will play during Saturday's preseason game against the Houston Texans.

"We'll see how the week goes, but there's no urgency from my perspective to see Dak play against Houston," McCarthy said Monday, according to Todd Archer of ESPN. "This is more about we don't want to create a setback possibly.

"His volume of throwing leading up to that point, I mean, he was probably in midseason form from the amount of work he put in over the summer, coming out of the OTAs. Just trying to get that volume back to where it belongs."

If Prescott doesn't face the Texans this week, his long-awaited return will come during Week 1 versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 9, as McCarthy plans to use Dallas' final preseason contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 29 to evaluate the bottom of his depth chart.

Prescott hasn't played since suffering a serious ankle injury in October 2020. The 28-year-old has recovered following surgery, but he sustained a shoulder strain on July 28 that's limited his training camp participation.

The signal-caller recently said playing the preseason matchup against the Texans was part of his recovery plan.