Cooper Rush beats out Will Grier as Dallas Cowboys' backup quarterback to Dak Prescott

Today is cutdown day in the NFL. Rosters must be trimmed from 80 players to 53 by this afternoon. The Dallas Cowboys staged a backup quarterback battle this summer behind Dak Prescott between incumbent Cooper Rush and Will Grier, and Rush has won the job even though both Rush and Grier are being released – Rush doesn't have to clear waivers so he will return, and Dallas might add Grier to the practice squad if he clears.

Ben DiNucci, a seventh-round pick in 2020, technically was in the mix as well. He started one game and appeared in three as a rookie and spent last season on the practice squad, but it had been reported a few days ago he was being released and was out of the running.

Other than when Prescott suffered a severely broken ankle in Week 5 of the 2020 campaign against the Giants and missed the rest of the season (Andy Dalton was his primary backup then), he has proven quite durable. The Mississippi State product has played 16 games every other year. He did miss Week 8 at Minnesota last season with a strained calf muscle.

Needless to say, if Prescott goes down the Cowboys are probably up the creek regardless of who is backup is, and it's interesting that a team with Super Bowl aspirations doesn't have a more experienced insurance policy. Rush has seen action in seven NFL games since joining the team in 2017 and did start that 2021 Vikings matchup, leading a 20-16 victory. The former Central Michigan star was 24-for-40 for 325 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. He hit Amari Cooper on the winning 5-yard TD pass with under a minute left.

Rush started all three preseason games this year, while Grier relieved him. Rush threw for 136 yards with a pick for a rating of 52.62. That Rush was also waived was simply a bit of roster manipulation: Because he has accrued at least four years of NFL experience, he's not subject to waivers and will immediately be brought back.

Grier was a 2019 third-round pick by Carolina out of West Virginia. He made two starts in his rookie year and completed 28 of 52 passes for 228 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions (33.2 rating) for the Panthers, but hasn't played a regular season game since December 2019. He was released this time last year and signed with Dallas. Grier threw for 186 yards, two TDs and no picks in the Cowboys' three exhibition games for a rating of 94.01.

Dallas opens at home in the first Sunday night game of the year as a 1-point underdog vs. Tampa Bay at Caesars Sportsbook. 

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