The 3-5 Dallas Cowboys disaster of a season hit another low on Sunday when quarterback Dak Prescott injured his hamstring in the third quarter during a 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

The $240 million quarterback will miss the team’s next few games as Dallas tumbles further out of contention in the NFC East. Prescott will seek a second opinion on his injury, which reportedly turned out to be worse than initially anticipated.

The Mississippi State graduate was not off to a strong start, throwing for 1,978 yards with a poor 11-8 touchdown-interception ratio through eight games. Last year, his ratio was a glistening 36-9.

With the Cowboys season hanging in the balance, who might coach Mike McCarthy look to under center to turn the team’s fortunes around?

Cooper Rush

Longtime Cowboys backup Cooper Rush relieved Prescott on Sunday as the team attempted to come back against the Falcons. He will likely get the first crack at starting when Dallas takes on the rival Philadelphia Eagles next Monday.

Rush owns an impressive 5-1 record as a starter. He received an extended run following Prescott’s 2022 injury and his loss came in a narrow road defeat to a then-loaded Eagles team.

He owns a career 60 percent completion with 1,796 passing yards and nine touchdown passes – not bad for an undrafted quarterback out of Central Michigan.

Dallas quarterback Cooper Rush (10) looks to pass during the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons

Cooper Rush will likely get the first crack to start with Dak Prescott out of the lineup ( 

Image:

Getty Images)

Trey Lance

The Cowboys surprised many this offseason when they traded a fourth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for Trey Lance ahead of the 2023 season.

The third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has only made four career starts – he was supposed to emerge as the main man in San Francisco but a season-ending ACL tear early in 2022 opened the door for current starter Brock Purdy.

Lance would likely serve as Rush’s backup, though. He owns a 2-2 record as a starter and has thrown for 797 yards and five touchdowns. Lance has added an additional 235 yards on the ground.

Ryan Tannehill

The 36-year-old Ryan Tannehill spent the last six years as the starter with the Tennessee Titans but still finds himself out of a job to start the 2024 campaign.

He emerged as a play-action dynamo in 2019 alongside fearsome running back Derrick Henry and helped carry the Titans all the way to the AFC Championship Game – current Cowboys offensive coordinator Brain Schottenheimer is known as a play-action specialist

Tannehill would be unlikely to come in and immediately start for the Cowboys. Should Prescott’s surgery prove more serious and another Cowboys quarterback go down, he would make the most sense as emergency cover.