Cowboys QB Dak Prescott out at least 1 game as team evaluates hamstring injury

FRISCO, Texas (AP) - Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will miss at least one game with a hamstring injury that the team said Monday is still being evaluated.

Coach Mike McCarthy ruled out Prescott for Sunday’s game at home against Philadelphia. Prescott was injured in the second half of a 27-21 loss at Atlanta.

Multiple reports citing anonymous sources said Prescott was expected to miss multiple games.

Any lengthy absence for Prescott would be another setback in a season full of them for the Cowboys (3-5), who are on their first three-game losing streak since 2020. Dallas played the last 11 games of that 6-10 season without Prescott after he broke an ankle.

Prescott said after the Atlanta game that he noticed something might be wrong with the hamstring on a scramble, then felt something he hadn’t before on a throw. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

Cooper Rush replaced Prescott against the Falcons. Rush was 4-1 as the starter filling in for Prescott two years ago after Prescott broke a thumb in a loss to Tampa Bay in the opener. Dallas went on to the second of three consecutive 12-win playoff seasons.

The Cowboys are already three games behind Washington and Philadelphia in the loss column in the NFC East. The defending division champs host the Eagles (6-2) on Sunday, and Rush figures to get the call.

Trey Lance, the No. 3 overall pick by San Francisco in 2021, will be Rush’s backup. The 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys last year after he lost a battle for the backup job.

In Prescott’s first eight seasons, Dallas missed the playoffs twice when he wasn’t healthy from start to finish.

The 2017 season was marred by running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations. A quick start in 2019 faded to an 8-8 finish, and then-coach Jason Garrett’s contract wasn’t renewed. Coach Mike McCarthy, Garrett’s replacement, is in the final year of his contract.