Dak's 'pride' has him planning to play final game

LANDOVER, Md. -- The Dallas Cowboys will miss the playoffs, but after Thursday's 30-23 win against the Washington Commanders, quarterback Dak Prescott reiterated he wants to play in next week's season finale against the New York Giants.

"I'll have some fight back," Prescott said. "It depends on how it comes, what's the purpose, what's the reason. Obviously I understand being approached about it, but the conversations we've already had about it are for me to play."

Prescott was sacked six times, a season high, and hurried 11 times by the Commanders. For the first time this season, he failed to complete 60% of his passes, hitting 19-of-37 attempts for 307 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran four times for 24 yards.

Asked if Prescott would play against the Giants, coach Brian Schottenheimer slightly hedged. "It's Christmas," Schottenheimer said. "I'm going to enjoy Christmas, man. I'm going to have some eggnog. I'll deal with that when I get looking back to the film, but definitely some eggnog. And we're playing to win."

With a win against New York, the Cowboys would avoid a losing record in back-to-back years for the first time since they suffered three straight 5-11 seasons from 2000 to 2002. Prescott said there is a "big difference" between finishing 8-8-1 or 7-9-1.

"Lot of pride and I think that's another reason I want to play," Prescott said. "In a season [of] me being healthy, I've never had, in all of my life, career, a season under .500. So that tie is going to come into play really well. So it's a huge difference. It's one of those things that I mean, yeah, it's just pride. It's pride honestly."

Prescott went 8-8 as the starter in 2019. The two times he has played fewer than nine games, the Cowboys have gone 6-10 (2020) and 7-10 (2024). This will be just the third season in which Prescott has started the majority of games and the Cowboys have not made the playoffs (2017, 2019).

Prescott said any conversations he has had with Schottenheimer since the Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs have been with the idea he would start.

"I love this game," Prescott said. "I love any opportunity that I get to play it. So with that being said, yeah, if I get to go out there, I'm going to give my best. I'm going to prepare the same way. I'm going to be the same player. ... I understand the reasons why maybe not [to play], and if I'm approached with that I'll handle it then."

The downside is substantial if Prescott were to suffer an injury. He is set to count more than $74 million against the cap, although the Cowboys will restructure his deal to gain some cap space, with a $40 million base salary. Schottenheimer said he did not like that Prescott was hit as much as he was by Washington.

"Again, we want to win," Schottenheimer said. "We play to win. Eight-eight-and-1, do the math, sounds way better than the alternative, but again the other thing is, right now we're 4-1 in the division. This is a pretty good division. Historically it's been one of the best in football and you can see how physical the games are just by watching today's game."

Prescott has won 14 straight games against the Giants, although the Cowboys needed a 64-yard field goal to force overtime in a Week 2 win. He has not lost to New York since 2016, his rookie season. He believes momentum can carry over to 2026 with victories.

"Winning helps everything," Prescott said. "Just finishing off with a win, two of them, would be great for us."

After the game, Prescott wore a sweatshirt that read "Wake up happy" on the front.

"I'll wake up happy for sure," he said, "but I'll probably wake up a little sore too."