Why the Dallas Cowboys are sticking with Cooper Rush at QB and what is the plan for Trey Lance

Never mind that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush has one of the worst stat lines in NFL history in the 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Not only did he complete just 13 of 23 passes for just 45 yards and have two fumbles but, according to the 33rd Team, he had the 9th worst EPA per drop back for any quarterback with 20 or more passes in game over the last 3 years (-0.68). That ranks 1,307th out of 1,315.

However, with franchise quarterback Dak Prescott out for the remainder of the season, the Cowboys are sticking with Rush for next Monday’s game against the Houston Texans.

“Cooper Rush will be the starter this week,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said.

McCarthy added that it was an easy decision to stick with Rush over Trey Lance.

“Definitely. We’ve got a lot of faith in Cooper,” McCarthy said. “Everybody believes in him. How can you not based off of how he has performed?”

Rush is 5-2 in his career as a starter in place of Prescott. McCarthy said they never good Rush into a good rhythm against the Eagles.

He blamed the turnovers for the woes on offense and pointed to a 15-play drive in the second quarter that ended with a red zone fumble by running back Ezekiel Elliott as a prime example.

Instead of being up 10-7, the Cowboys soon found themselves down 14-6 at halftime.

The Cowboys had four fumbles and an interception in the game and are now -10 on the season in turnovers.

“We can’t afford to make those mistakes,” McCarthy said. “We need to be cleaner in those spots. Our defense gave us great opportunities in the first half. I thought our defense took a big step in the first half and gave us opportunities. But losing that first fumble really putting them in position to score first. A 15-play drive, a six-plus minute drive. That’s the way we need to play all the time. We need to try and create more shots and things like that. These are the things we’re talking about, but yeah, five different takeaways, I don’t know how many more times I can say it. You can’t win games like that.”

McCarthy said this is not need to go make a change at quarterback situation. His offense is quarterback friendly. They need to be better at running the football and taking care of the football.

“We need to be better at the things we were committed to,” McCarthy said. “I’ve always played to the strength of the quarterback. That’s just something I believe. The West Coast offense is built around making quarterbacks successful. You know, we’re running the ball better. We’ve made a strong commitment, but to really knuckle down in certain things that we’re doing differently since the bye. So there is progress there. We need to stay the course and just keep make sure we’re giving the players what they need, and, you know, putting them positions to be successful, and just to keep working on our execution.”

McCarthy said the Cowboys will also to continue to use Lance in packages to take advantage of his movement skills.

Lance went 4-for-6 for 21 yards and an interception in mop up duty against the Eagles. He also ran for 17 yards on three attempts.

“We got him in there that first series to try and give us a spark, and then it got to the third down, I just felt he didn’t have reps in that particular situational work,” McCarthy said. “But then we gave him some series based on where we were. I thought he did some good things, and there are some things that he can learn from. It was good to get better.”

The Cowboys also plan to sign Will Grier to the practice squad, giving them three quarterbacks to work in practice.

Grier spent 2021-22 with the Cowboys. He was cut before the start of the 2023 season after they acquired Lance in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers.