Besides standing 3-5, the Dallas Cowboys have also sustained a major setback in quarterback Dak Prescott’s serious hamstring injury, which he suffered in their Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

However, the team hasn’t placed Prescott on the injury reserve, while he searches for more opinions on his condition.

In his absence, veteran quarterback Cooper Rush will replace him, starting with the Eagles game on Week 11. Yet, sports analyst Skip Bayless warned Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones about Rush.

“Cooper Rush is Jerry Jones’ worst nightmare,” the analyst said on X, formerly Twitter. “I believe Jerry will be privately rooting against him. I also will not be at all surprised if Cooper Rush beats the Eagles, just as he beat the Bengals (who were coming off a Super Bowl) in his first start for Dak in 2022.”

Skip’s warning for the Cowboys

When Prescott hurt his hamstring, Skip had advocated for Cooper Rush to start against the Eagles, given the probability of Prescott missing a lot of time due to his injury.

From his post, Bayless also sounded confident that Rush could outperform Prescott, who led the team to three straight losses to playoff-caliber teams.

Taking Prescott’s place against the Falcons, Rush went 13-25 for 115 yards and a touchdown.

Moreover, fans should remember that Cowboys GM Jerry Jones signed Prescott to a $240-million extension in the offseason.

So, if Prescott goes down for a good chunk of the season while his backup manages to turn his season around, then Jones might have second thoughts about paying all that money.

Perhaps this was what Skip Bayless meant when he said Rush would be Jerry Jones’ “worst nightmare,” and that he expected the team’s own general manager to “privately [root] against him.”

However, the Cowboys are facing a 6-2 Eagles team in Week 11, and losing that game could break their season. Fans would have wanted coach Mike McCarthy to play Trey Lance in Prescott’s place, but he defended his decision to start Rush.

“Cooper Rush is [as] respected as a backup quarterback … since Rich Gannon when I was with Rich in the ’90s with the Chiefs. He just does everything the right ways. He’s an excellent pro. There will be plenty of confidence in him,” McCarthy said, via Todd Archer of ESPN.

What’s going on?

Still, Prescott’s injury probably isn’t the only reason for whatever happens to the Cowboys’ season. For example, fans called out Jones’ refusal to pursue Derrick Henry in the postseason.

Then, after insisting on retaining their head coach for the season, Jones then called out McCarthy on a radio show for his team not executing properly or is designing poor concepts.

It’s safe to say the Cowboys have more things to worry about than Dak Prescott going down with an injury.