OXNARD, Calif. — The first practice of Dallas Cowboys training camp ends, and Dak Prescott immediately walks over to the fence behind one of the end zones.

There, he greets his fiancée, Sarah Jane Ramos, and their daughters, MJ and Aurora, who is a newborn. For 15 minutes Prescott sits with his family, occasionally chasing a giggling MJ.

For those brief moments, he is not the quarterback of “America’s Team.” He’s just a girl dad.

Back in 2016, his rookie year, Prescott would see Jason Witten play with his four children, including his sons, C.J. (a freshman linebacker at Rice) and Cooper (also a linebacker, and one of the top prep recruits in the Class of 2027). Prescott was a fourth-round pick just trying to get a job, but he ended that summer as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback.

Now the longest-tenured Cowboy, Prescott, who turns 32 on Tuesday, has perspective.

“I’m getting that true balance,” he said. “I think it’s healthy. Now when I get to get away from this building and get away from here, my mind gets to leave it, where in the past it didn’t.

“I think that could be detrimental at times. [Now] it’s no overthinking things, thinking too much about the things you want.”

As Prescott enters Year 10, there is just one thing he wants: a Super Bowl. He is unafraid to say it, despite knowing he has a 2-5 postseason record, and the Cowboys have not advanced to an NFC Championship Game or won a Lombardi Trophy since 1995.

He was named the NFL’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2022. He has made the Pro Bowl three times. He was the runner-up in MVP voting in 2023. He holds the team’s single-season record for touchdown passes (37), and this year he could become the franchise’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns.

“What I’ve done or accomplished really doesn’t hold any weight with me, so I can’t say not having it weighs me down or anything,” Prescott said. “That’s the f—ing motivation, right? That’s the truth in your stomach. That’s what’s in your gut is wanting that.

“That’s what pushes me to be better every day.”

Prescott is healthy after missing nine games in 2024 because of a right hamstring avulsion that required surgery. But there will be limitations put on him.

“Now that he’s in the over-30 club, we’re going to be smart with some of the things we do with him,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “He is anti-that. He wants to do as much as possible. Luckily, we have the trump card with him on that. In all seriousness, Dak understands there is a smart way to train.

“Although Dak’s not going to like it as much, he’s very aware that we’re going to be intelligent with what he does.”

He doesn’t give every handoff during individual drills with running backs. He doesn’t throw every pass to receivers for on-air drills. When the full offense goes through a series of drills over bags, Prescott is a “hype man,” encouraging them all in a funny way, such as acting as if he is riding a horse.

“What I have to do is be myself and have fun at practice and enjoy my teammates. I was told not to do those drills just from health. So, hell, I’m not about to sit there, cross my arms and watch,” Prescott said. “The whole point of the drill is to get some juice going, get the guys going and get our energy high to start practice. If I have to be the hype man, that’s what I’m going to do.”

So far in camp, Prescott has worked more under center than in the shotgun. Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Steve Shimko have made a subtle adjustment to Prescott’s footwork when he is in the shotgun. His “here we go” cadence remains, but there are other cadences now too.

“This guy is a perfectionist. For a guy that has the accomplishments and has done the things he’s done, he reminds me so much of being around [former NFL QB] Andrew Luck,” Schottenheimer said. “A guy that’s had great success but is willing to try anything you throw his way. … ‘Hey, coach me hard. I can do that. Let me show you I can do that.’ I think it’s that willingness and that hunger to [say] ‘Challenge me coach. Challenge me to do different things.'”

Ultimately, however, Prescott will be measured by Super Bowls won or not won. It’s a fact of life he accepted long ago.

He doesn’t care that he was not in the top-10 quarterbacks in an ESPN survey of league executives, coaches and scouts.

“Motivated? That’s temporary,” he said when asked if not being on the list motivated him. “I don’t think I’ve ever really cared about a list. I was, what, the ninth or so guy when I was taken [in the draft]. The list changes [for] every person you ask. The list changes every year.

“With injuries, obviously the list should change. As young, new players come in, the list is going to change. It’s not something I really give weight to. I know who I am. I’m confident in who I am. It’s about me just continuing to get better, healthy, and grow — and make sure I’m the best player, quarterback and leader I can be for this team. That’s the list I care about.”

He was asked what did motivate him now, and his answer lasted nearly two minutes. It centered around winning.

“Ten [years] in and ready to play another 10, but I want [to win] first and foremost now. And that is the urgency that I carry with just the love and passion of this game,” Prescott said. “I’m not only wanting to win for myself, but wanting to win for this organization. It’s been well damn long enough. … We’ve got to keep that at the forefront of our mind. That’s why I said Tyler Smith saying [the expectation is to win a Super Bowl], Schotty saying that guy’s not backing down from that. Yeah, look it in the face, look it in the eyes, and do whatever you can.

“When one thinks something, it’s good, but when two think it, it’s powerful. When we can get a hundred guys to think it, it can happen. So that’s what it’s about.”