Cowboys HC talking about Dak Prescott like a rookie is unnerving

USA Today

5 days ago

Cowboys HC talking about Dak Prescott like a rookie is unnerving
It was bad enough that the Dallas Cowboys hired the woefully underqualified Brian Schottenheimer to be their head coach. He is the inadvertent architect of the "Let Russ Cook" meme with the late 2010s Seattle Seahawks, after all. That should've been disqualifying in itself. (Leave explaining this confounding mess to Jerry Jones!)
But did Schottenheimer also have to make it seem abundantly clear (or confirm?) this wasn't the job for him so fast? Ugh, the audacity.
After Thursday's Cowboys OTAs practice, Schottenheimer had a unique way of describing Dak Prescott's current standing in the NFL. I know Prescott is an easy (and understandable) meme target for many football fans, but he is, technically, an accomplished quarterback. He's a three-time Pro Bowler. He's led the NFL in touchdown passes over a full season before. The Cowboys have usually been solid playoff contenders with him at the helm.
Prescott will likely never be a Hall of Famer or anything, but he's a clear and competent battle-tested veteran. We don't have to lie to ourselves.
Yet, according to Schottenheimer, Prescot is in the "developmental phase." Huh?
I understand that Schottenheimer is probably more referring to cleaning up tinier aspects of Prescott's game, like his throwing mechanics and the intricacies of the Cowboys' new offense. Which is fine. Other new coaches, such as the Bears' Ben Johnson, have similar thought processes connected to Caleb Williams. But there's a key difference between Prescott and the second-year, still-green Williams. It's a normal process of offensive installation and integration for teams this time of year.
Still, don't know that I've ever heard about any coach talking about a 31-year-old experienced player with 122 career starts to his name like he's a young guy learning the ropes for the first time.
It's kind of unnerving to see Schottenheimer boil down his work with Prescott like this so simplistically:
If these are the kinds of soundbites we're going to get from Schottenheimer before he coaches a single game, imminent disaster assuredly will descend upon Dallas. Again. To revitalize themselves as a playoff contender, the Cowboys needed more aggressive, innovative coaching that still doesn't necessarily try to break the wheel. The skeleton was in place for someone smarter to come in and right the ship through rough waters.
You'd be hard-pressed to hear anyone talk about Schottenheimer's coaching like he's an aggressive innovator in 2025. Yet, here he is, seemingly trying to break the wheel anyway.
Godspeed, Cowboys fans. You're gonna need it.