Dak Prescott turned to a fellow NFC East quarterback for inspiration.
Coming off a brutal ankle injury that cost him most of the 2020 season, Prescott is expected to be 100 percent this upcoming season, his sixth as Cowboys QB. The injury, while gruesome, was apparently nothing for Prescott to overcome, though, as he thanked quarterback Alex Smith for being a point of inspiration for his return.
Smith, who dealt with a life-threatening leg injury of his own, was mentioned by name during Prescott's news conference on Wednesday, during which the Cowboys announced the new deal.
"I have to thank Alex Smith..."@Dak speaks to how Alex Smith's recovery inspired his own 💪 pic.twitter.com/zBlItFY6ex
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 10, 2021
I have to thank, honestly, Alex Smith. Because at that moment, when you're sitting there, and you have an injury like that or you come out of surgery, to see somebody who has already done it and did it actually in worse circumstances, that allowed my mind just to go to straight, 'Hey, I can do this. I'm gonna beat this, it's just a matter of time, when are the doctors are saying. But I'm gonna beat this. So I have to thank Alex, for somebody who's overcome that and won Comeback Player of the Year, and congrats to him.
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Smith's miraculous return to an NFL field is well documented, winning Comeback Player of the Year while taking snaps for the Washington Football Team this past season.
That's where the similarities end, though: Smith was released by Washington in early March, while Prescott inked a big-time deal to hang on as Dallas QB for the next four seasons. Smith mentioned that his return "threw a wrench" into Washington's plans at the QB position.
Still, Smith serves as a point of inspiration, and that's good enough for Prescott.
