FRISCO, Texas — Dak Prescott is sitting on a desk contained in the Dallas Cowboys’ weight room. A small inexperienced resistance band is connected to his proper ankle, and nearly mundanely, the quarterback strikes his foot aspect to aspect.
Three units, 20 reps every. Then he strikes the foot up and down. Three extra units, 20 reps every.
It is 4 days earlier than the Cowboys play the Carolina Panthers, and Prescott is in the course of a course of that he, the Cowboys’ power and conditioning employees, athletic coaching employees, coach Mike McCarthy and Prescott’s private bodily therapist, Luke Miller, have designed to get the quarterback bodily able to play every week.
The collaboration has Prescott enjoying the very best soccer of his profession as he enters Sunday’s pivotal NFC East matchup between the 9-3 Cowboys and 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). It may not settle a division race, however it might matter if these groups have been to fulfill within the playoffs.
“It really is a village,” Prescott mentioned.
Accidents have marked Prescott’s current profession after he began his first 64 video games with out incident. A dislocated and fractured proper ankle in 2020 required two surgical procedures. A strained lat muscle in his again in coaching camp in 2021. A calf harm after six video games in 2021. A left shoulder surgical procedure after the 2021 season. A proper thumb surgical procedure that value him 5 video games in 2022.
In coping with the setbacks, Prescott realized the worth of his physique and the worth of his village.
“One thousand p.c I might say they make the items stronger,” Prescott, 30, mentioned. “No, I wasn’t damaged, however I used to be injured … [When] you are getting older and issues are going to tighten up … I do not need to regress, and I need to ensure that I am hitting my stride.
“You are all the time taking a look at greats and what they’re doing, and also you see guys, like LeBron [James], Tom Brady, have these strategies and spend hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on their physique annually, and also you surprise why. And it is apparent after they’re enjoying so long as they performed at such a excessive degree that that is what they should do to really feel comfy.
“So for me, it is about ensuring simply, yeah, I go away no stone unturned.”
AFTER A NORMAL Sunday sport, Prescott’s restoration begins early Monday morning.
Harold Nash, the Cowboys’ power and conditioning coordinator, places the gamers via a lower-body elevate and a restoration run to begin the therapeutic course of after a 60-minute NFL sport full of what are primarily a whole lot of automobile crashes.
For Prescott, some video games are simpler from a well being perspective than others, however he doesn’t skip the method.
“I have been round Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Andy Dalton, Dak, so I have been lucky, let me say that,” Nash mentioned. “I do know these guys all had their separate methods for getting ready, and Dak’s is as detailed as any I’ve ever seen. His preparation by no means stops, whether or not it is bodily or whether or not it is psychological. … He is not a man seeking to punch the clock. All the things issues.”
On most days, Prescott arrives at The Star, the Cowboys’ coaching facility, earlier than 6:30 a.m., however Mondays are slightly completely different. After his elevate and run, Prescott and Miller will go over their “stock” of Prescott’s physique to understand how the whole lot feels. There will likely be a session with athletic coaching employees, headed by Jim Maurer and Britt Brown.
Miller will ask Prescott about hits he took to see if there may be any residual soreness.
“He’ll ask me about one thing as a result of he noticed it on the movie, and I am like, ‘Nah, that is tremendous,’ after which I get up Tuesday and like, ‘Oh f—, he was proper. This does damage or that does damage or this hammy is tight.’ And so from there, [I] let Luke know, and we work about it.'”
Miller will all the time ask concerning the ankle, the shoulder and the thumb. From there, they devise what they are going to rehab because the week progresses.
“This yr, he is felt actually good,” Miller mentioned. “Some bumps and bruises. Soreness as a result of he is transferring slightly extra, however in all actuality he is performed very well healthwise. It makes my job simpler when the whole lot is firing on all cylinders.”
PRESCOTT WAS INTRODUCED to Miller in 2021 as he seemed for further rehab from his ankle surgical procedure at SandersFit Efficiency Heart in Dallas. Miller had performed some work with Prescott’s finest pal and former teammate, operating again Ezekiel Elliott, and has expertise working with NBA veterans like Myles Turner, Victor Oladipo, in addition to Tennessee Titans operating again Derrick Henry.
Prescott mentioned he was “reluctant” so as to add a full-time therapist exterior of the Cowboys as a result of he wasn’t positive he wanted one, however he determined to provide it an opportunity and noticed speedy outcomes.
“I felt like my three toes [on his right foot] weren’t lively as a lot as I needed them to be,” Prescott mentioned. “So I began doing this, and in about two weeks, increase. So I used to be like, ‘Hell, I am going to hold going to him as is handy.'”
But it surely wasn’t till that summer time when Prescott determined he wanted Miller full time. After one follow, Prescott complained about soreness in his proper aspect. He was recognized with a latissimus pressure, an harm extra widespread for a pitcher than a quarterback.
The Cowboys convened with the New York Yankees’ and Texas Rangers’ medical groups. Miller had labored with Dr. Keith Meister, the Rangers’ staff doctor, so Prescott requested the Cowboys if he might name Miller to coaching camp in Oxnard, California.
Prescott mentioned Dr. Meister really useful ready eight weeks earlier than throwing. The Cowboys’ season opener in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was six weeks away.
“I am like, what the f—?. I am about to overlook the primary sport,” Prescott mentioned. “And Luke’s like, ‘Belief me, we’ll work on this. Let’s go.'”
Prescott and Miller have been in a position to compress the restoration timeline, and he was feeling ok within the rehab course of to begin Week 1.
“And clearly we all know the way it labored once we performed Tampa — threw for 400 yards. In all probability my third time throwing because the lat. Perhaps my fourth time.”
Since then, Miller has had a day by day presence at The Star, engaged on Prescott at completely different elements of every day through the week earlier than and after conferences and practices. Earlier than that, McCarthy and the power and athletic coaching staffs needed to log off on Miller being on the facility.
“Luke, he is particular,” McCarthy mentioned. “He has a present. And plenty of these people do, so far as the understanding of the human physique and the stressors — not solely bodily, however the emotional, psychological part of it.”
IF THERE IS one thing of an off-day, it’s Tuesday. Prescott can are inclined to his private enterprise and charitable appearances, however he can even get along with Miller for physique work. He’ll get further stretching or a therapeutic massage, however there isn’t a lifting or operating.
“These guys do want passive relaxation as nicely,” Miller mentioned, including, “The deal with Tuesday isn’t just about restoration however [to] prepare for the week to come back.”
The massive days are Wednesdays and Thursdays. Prescott will arrive earlier than the solar comes up and get within the sizzling tub and chilly tub.
On Wednesday, he may have an upper-body elevate within the weight room. When McCarthy arrived in 2020, he requested Prescott how a lot he bench-pressed. The quarterback instructed him 375 on the straight bar.
“That is good,” McCarthy mentioned. “We’re performed with the straight bar.”
The elevate now’s designed to be quarterback-centric, centered on rotation and never the glamor muscle tissue.
“It is to keep up his QB-ness,” Miller mentioned.
After morning conferences, Miller will stretch Prescott to get his physique transferring and take one other stock of how the quarterback feels. After follow, Miller and Prescott will undergo therapies, together with blood stream restriction to his legs.
That session lasts 20-Half-hour.
“It sort of tips the physique to make you suppose you are working more durable and that approach you get all of those sort of hormonal responses,” Miller mentioned. “The physique actually simply goes into an overdrive type of restoration and up-relegates the whole lot.”
Following afternoon conferences, Miller and Prescott may have one other hour session of remedy. In the event that they want extra, Miller will go to Prescott’s home or Prescott will go to Miller’s.
ON THURSDAY, PRESCOTT will undergo what he and Miller name his “pillars.”
“Very Dak-specific issues to maintain his ankle, his shoulder, even his thumb-grip power,” Miller mentioned. “These are the issues we do not neglect. Be sure that we’re checking all of the bins to verify the ankle’s sturdy, the toes are extra cellular. It is not a horny elevate.”
It’s essential, although. And through a few of that work, Prescott will watch movie on his iPad as Miller goes via every a part of his physique. Prescott typically wonders the place the time goes.
“I actually do not consider there’s sufficient hours within the day. It is not simply my course of. That is simply how I’m with life truthfully,” Prescott mentioned. “As a result of I am a leave-no-stone-unturned man. If you try this, you need to say, ‘Effectively, hell, I would like this stability. I would like two to a few hours of relaxation now.’ And also you search for and you are like, ‘If I try this, then I’ve taken away from this or that.'”
Most Thursday practices are performed in full pads, so Prescott’s pre-practice work is longer. Along with further stretching, he’ll work with medication balls, throwing them in opposition to a wall or pounding them into the bottom to work on explosion.
“It is a type of issues the place in the event you transfer fast early, it is lots simpler to maneuver fast later,” Miller mentioned. “On Thursdays, you are asking extra of your physique, so we ensure you’re ready for that.”
After follow is one other session of blood stream restrictions to his arms, specializing in the rotator cuff and lats.
“You need not have points together with your throwing arm,” Miller mentioned.
They’re going to additionally get collectively at night time if any further issues have popped up.
FRIDAY IS PRESCOTT’S favourite day. Perhaps that is as a result of the sport plan is in, follow is over and his media obligations are principally completed.
“Simply actually in a Zen mode all day lengthy,” Prescott mentioned.
The Cowboys undergo their STAA program that McCarthy introduced with him from Inexperienced Bay.
“We name it Tender Tissue Activation and Acceleration,” McCarthy mentioned. “Type of a prehab course of of creating positive they full their relaxation and restoration on the finish of the week to launch their neurological clocks on a traditional Saturday.”
After the two-hour STAA program, Prescott and Miller will reconvene to take a listing of what else he may have, from extra stretching to respiratory workout routines.
SATURDAY IS MILLER’S favourite day.
“Harold, the Cowboys, me, we consider in what we name a neural cost, [a] central nervous system activation,” Miller mentioned.
The lifting session final 25-Half-hour, however it’s a extra high-intensity exercise. A variety of plyometric coaching, energy work and bounce squats. McCarthy places the Cowboys via a extra rigorous exercise on Saturday than most groups, even when it isn’t in pads. Gamers must hit sure speeds on their runs. All the things is tracked by GPS.
“It is, ‘If I can transfer quick on Saturday, my physique will likely be prepared to maneuver this quick on Sunday,'” Miller mentioned.
If the Cowboys are on the highway, Miller will meet the staff at their resort and have his gear prepared for Prescott’s arrival. For house video games, he’ll go to Prescott’s home after the exercise at The Star.
They’ll undergo one other blood stream restriction for his legs. 5 minutes on, three minutes to get well. They’ll have another stock to verify they’ve coated each inch of Prescott’s physique through the week.
“If we really feel good Saturday, we all know we will really feel good on Sunday,” Prescott mentioned. “In the event you’re engaged on one thing Saturday, like, I’ve started working on this now, it isn’t a panic, however Luke’s in a problem-solving mode.”
However that has not been the case a lot this season, as Prescott has remained comparatively wholesome.
ON GAME DAY, THE work continues for late afternoon and night time kickoffs.
Twelve hours earlier than the sport, they are going to undergo a fast elevate.
“Throw some medication balls round once more to up-regulate his central nervous system,” Miller mentioned. “Get slightly sweat in. Once more, train the physique to maneuver quick now so you’ll be able to transfer quick afterward.”
4 hours earlier than kickoff, Prescott will arrive on the stadium. Yet one more time, he and Miller get collectively for a protracted stretching routine. Simply exterior the locker room, he’ll incorporate a few of the “Dak dance,” actions that contain a disassociation of the higher and decrease physique as a part of his coaching together with his private quarterback coach, John Beck from 3DQB.
From there, Prescott will go to the sphere for his on-field throwing work. Miller’s work is completed. He’ll watch the sport from Prescott’s suite at AT&T Stadium. On the highway, he’ll generally fly house earlier than the sport ends.
Win or lose, Prescott is aware of he may have his village to get him prepared.
“You like the man together with his humility, his management, his work ethic,” Nash mentioned. “You may go on and on with all of the adjectives with that man. He undoubtedly does have a village. And you must discover what works.
“I feel he is discovered what works for him.”
