Dak Prescott won’t play in Hall of Fame game due to shoulder strain

The Dallas Cowboys will be extremely cautious with their franchise quarterback this preseason. Coming off a devastating ankle injury that kept him out of the bulk of 2020, Prescott has a shoulder strain in training camp, which has pushed the team to shut him down at least for the Hall-of-Fame game. His backup Garrett Gilbert should get the start in Prescott’s place.

Coach Mike McCarthy says that Prescott hasn’t suffered a setback, just that they are being extremely conservative with their star, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. After watching backup quarterbacks struggle last season in Prescott’s place, I’m sure Cowboys fans prefer the safer approach. But, with any kind of injury to a quarterback’s throwing arm, there is cause for some concern. Getting him back to practice will elicit an audible sigh of relief from Cowboys’ nation.

On the other side of the ball, Steelers longtime quarterback will also sit, as Ben Roethlisberger won’t play on Thursday night either. As usual, the Hall of Fame game will be more scrimmage than a true football game. But, we’ll at least see a play or two out of Steelers highly touted rookie running back Najee Harris and there will be NFL football for the first time since Tom Brady and the Buccaneers hoisted the Lombardi Trophy earlier this year.