Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had surgery on his non-throwing shoulder after the season, a procedure Coach Mike McCarthy said was a clean up for an issue that isn’t a concern.
McCarthy told reporters at the scouting combine Tuesday he expects Prescott to be available for offseason work. The coach said he didn’t think the left shoulder bothered Prescott during the season.
“He practiced full out,” McCarthy said. “I think he just wanted to get it cleaned up.”
It was the third surgery in less than 18 months for Prescott. The first two surgeries were to repair the compound fracture and dislocation of Prescott’s right ankle in Week 5 of the 2020 season against the New York Giants.
Prescott also dealt with right shoulder and calf strains last year. The shoulder injury kept him out of team drills for most of training camp, while the calf strain sidelined him for two weeks, but just one game.
The Cowboys had a 5-1 record and were cruising on offense when Prescott strained the calf in an overtime victory at New England. While the quarterback said the calf wasn’t an issue, his production wasn’t the same the rest of the season.
Dallas finished 12-5 before a 23-17 wild-card loss at home to San Francisco on another inconsistent day for Prescott and the offense.
JAGUARS: Owner Shad Khan reversed course on hiring an executive vice president, leaving key football decisions to new coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke moving forward.
Khan’s about-face came less than a month after he said he planned to tweak the franchise’s power structure to add “brainpower” to a “too flat organization.” Khan changed his mind after sitting in on staff meetings and witnessing a turnaround in terms of professionalism and chemistry.
“In just over three weeks, Doug Pederson has instilled a structured and disciplined approach that is clearly making a difference in our culture and mindset,” Khan said in a statement. “I feel we’re best served at this time by allowing Doug, Trent and their assistants to take ownership of our path forward.
“We will continue to explore the addition of personnel to other areas of our football operations to provide everyone the best chance to win.”
The EVP would have been in charge of day-to-day operations, a person who reports directly to Khan and has ultimate say in football decisions. Pederson and Baalke would have reported to the EVP. It’s a model the Jaguars first used with Tom Coughlin in 2017, the previous time they made the playoffs.
TELEVISION: Approximately two-thirds of the United States watched the Super Bowl, according to a survey conducted by the National Football League and Nielsen.
Nielsen reported the total audience on NBC, Telemundo, Peacock and NFL digital platforms averaged 112.3 million viewers for the Los Angeles Rams 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Feb. 13.
Nielsen originally measured 167 million people watched at least one minute of the game. However, that swells to 208 million-plus when trying to take into account people watching the game in groups or out of the home.
The survey of 6,600 households, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago using the AmeriSpeak panel, examined the size of viewing groups at any location and to what extent those groups are larger than what’s currently measured. To estimate viewers who watched the game, the survey also took into account standard Nielsen measurement metrics.
BEARS: The Chicago Bears signed veteran inside linebacker Joe Thomas.
Thomas has 16 starts over seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers (2015-17), Dallas Cowboys (2018-20), Houston Texans (2021) and Baltimore Ravens (2021). He has 12 tackles for loss and 10 pass breakups.
The Bears made big changes after going 6-11 last season, hiring General Manager Ryan Poles and Coach Matt Eberflus to replace the fired Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. Chicago also is switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme.
VIKINGS: The Minnesota Vikings have finalized their staff under Coach Kevin O’Connell, hiring six more assistants including former player Greg Manusky as the inside linebackers coach.
The Vikings announced they’ve added Manusky, assistant wide receivers coach Tony Sorrentino, assistant defensive line coach A’Lique Terry, offensive quality control assistant Derron Montgomery, defensive quality control assistant Steve Donatell and pass game specialist/game management coordinator Ryan Cordell.
Manusky will enter his 32nd year in the NFL, including his 19th as a coach. He played in the league as a linebacker from 1988-99, including three seasons with the Vikings.
Donatell is the son of defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. Cordell worked with new Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in both the Cleveland Browns’ and San Francisco 49ers’ organizations.
Including the three strength and conditioning coaches, the Vikings retained six assistants from the previous regime on their 27-person coaching staff.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.