A season-opening 19-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home on Sunday prevented the Dallas Cowboys from spoiling Tom Brady’s comeback from a short-lived retirement.
Even worse for the Cowboys, they lost starting quarterback Dak Prescott to injury in the process, with more questions than answers as to the length of his absence.
"It's a significant injury," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said, ESPN reported.
A report on the team’s website said that the offense struggled mightily against Tampa Bay.
Prescott himself had difficulty connecting with his receivers, scrapping together a subpar line of 14-for-29 passing for 134 yards and an interception, the report said.
Wideout CeeDee Lamb had 11 balls thrown to him but snagged just two for 29 yards, per the Cowboys.
According to the team, an injury to Prescott’s throwing hand forced the field general to depart with five minutes of action left.
Backup Cooper Rush took over in garbage time and chipped in 64 passing yards.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott jogged for 52 yards on 10 carries, according to the report.
Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate KXAS reported citing a local publication that Prescott was scheduled to have a procedure on his hand on Monday and could miss at least six weeks.
Per the station, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gestured to an area between his thumb and wrist to show the media where Prescott got hurt.
"Disappointing way for us to start the year, I'm disappointed about that,” Jones said, KXAS reported. “I'm particularly disappointed for our fans, Dak will be out for a little while."