Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy says Dak Prescott will be cleared by training camp

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has already said he is good to go now, and likely will be ready for the 2021 season after coach Mike McCarthy said he should be cleared in time for training camp in July.

McCarthy based his prognosis on Prescott’s rehab progress and current workouts.

“I have no reason not to think that,” he said. “I think this week in Phase 2 will be a nice step in that direction.”

McCarthy made his comments during the rookie minicamp over the weekend at the team’s headquarters at the Star in Frisco.

The rookies and veterans will begin Phase 2 of the offseason program with on-field teaching sessions this week.

McCarthy said Prescott, who missed the final 11 games last season with a compound fracture and dislocation in his right ankle, will participate in some on-field work.

“He’ll do most things,” McCarthy said. “There’s a plan in place that’s coordinated with [athletic trainers Britt Brown and Jim Maurer] and the training room so I know he feels really good. He’s really had some excellent workouts here in the last couple weeks. I’d see him doing most of the work.”

Prescott was initially given a four- to six-month recovery period after suffering the injury last October. He had a second cleanup surgery in December but it did not alter his progress.

Prescott and the team have consistently maintained that he was ahead of schedule in his rehab.

The Cowboys were so confident in his rehab and return for 2021 that they made him the second-highest paid quarterback in the NFL with a four-year, $160 million contract in March.

No one knows his situation better than Prescott, who declared two weeks ago that he was doing everything so well that he could play in a game now.

“I’m close. I could go play in a game right now and in my head be very, very successful,” Prescott said. “So there’s no doubt that when I need to be successful, when I need to do what it takes to be on the field I’m going to do exactly that and the time will be right.”

Prescott said he will do individual work during organized team activities and probably be kept out of team work until training camp.

That is what McCarthy expects as well.