The Dallas Cowboys have ben depleted by injuries this season, as their flaws have gotten worse and worse as their stars have been forced to miss time. Dak Prescott has missed the second half of the season due to a hamstring injury and CeeDee Lamb has been shut down for the season with a shoulder injury.

The Cowboys have just one game to go in the regular season when they take on the Washington Commanders on Sunday in Dallas. With Dallas already eliminated, they could be looking to get former top-five pick Trey Lance some reps at quarterback over veteran backup Cooper Rush, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.

“Jerry Jones is pretty clear: this result doesn't really matter as it pertains to the status of Mike McCarthy, so I would expect them to play some guys maybe we have not seen,” Rapoport reported. “One notable one: I'm told expect Trey Lance, their third-string quarterback for most of the season, to get some real reps, to get significant reps in this game. Cooper Rush may still start, Trey Lance is expected to get some reps.”

Rush has started the last eight games for the Cowboys this season, winning four of them. He has completed over 60% of his passes in 2024 for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions.

Cowboys may have ulterior motive for sitting Cooper Rush

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush (10) throws a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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The Cowboys have not officially announced a starting quarterback for Sunday's clash with the Commanders just yet, but it seems like Trey Lance is going to see a healthy amount of snaps regardless of who is out there for the first play.

It's certainly understandable that the Cowboys would want to get a look at Lance, a young player who they traded assets for. Lance hasn't played very well during his limited preseason action, but he hasn't gotten any meaningful regular season action. Getting him some experience in a real game against a Commanders team that is still playing for playoff seeding is valuable.

However, that may not be the only reason that the Cowboys want to go with Lance. Cooper Rush has a contract incentive that the Cowboys could be looking to avoid, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.

“Cooper Rush has earned a $250,000 incentive by playing 45% of the snaps,” Archer wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “If he reaches 55%, he earns another $250,000. He has played in 52.3% of the snaps this season.”

Rush said that he and the team were both aware of the incentive, so that's certainly something that Rush will want to collect at the end of the season. However, if Lance plays most of the game on Sunday, Rush won't be able to hit that number and would fall short of that mark, which would be disappointing for the longtime Cowboys backup.