Mike McCarthy reacts to Dak Prescott vs Cooper Rush competition

Mike McCarthy is having none of the issue, declaring that Dak Prescott is still the QB1 once he returns, despite Cooper Rush's play.

There seemed to be a lot of concern for the Dallas Cowboys when reports came out that franchise quarterback Dak Prescott would require surgery on his injured thumb, being forced to miss several weeks. Backup Cooper Rush would be thrust into the action as the temporary QB1, and he led the Cowboys to a close 20-17 victory against Super Bowl LVI runner-up Cincinnati Bengals. He performed admirably, amassing a total of 235 passing yards and one touchdown, with no interception. With Prescott's return a ways away, the Cowboys need Rush to perform at his best, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is loving the competition between the two QBs.

In fact, Jerry Jones even went as far as to stir the pot between Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush, saying that he'd “walk to New York” to get Rush to play as well as Prescott has for the franchise. But Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is having none of that, squashing any seeds of locker room beef by declaring that Prescott is still the first-choice quarterback once he returns from injury.

“Clearly, everybody in our locker room and everybody in the building, Jerry included, [thinks] Dak is our quarterback. We want Cooper to be successful as possible. So, I think it stops right there,” McCarthy said in an interview with 1053 The Fan.

While Jerry Jones has a point in that having two elite quarterbacks is as enviable a problem a franchise could have in the NFL, McCarthy is also shrewd in putting a halt on all that talk. It is also be a tad premature for Jones to talk up Rush. It's not as if Rush had already strung together consecutive quality performances. It's been one game. Meanwhile, Dak Prescott has been one of the most reliable quarterbacks in the past six seasons, while Rush has only made two starts in his entire career.

Of course, Cooper Rush would want to perform to the best of his abilities, and perhaps unlock a level that many think is not attainable for him, but when comparing the careers of the two, even Rush would admit that Dak Prescott has him beat. The Cowboys will be more than justified to turn the team back over to Prescott's leadership once he makes his return, which could happen sooner than later, with the 29-year old having returned to practice recently.