Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is looking forward to getting healthy and working with his new teammates.
Prescott suffered a partial avulsion of his right hamstring that caused him to miss most of the 2024 season. Now that he is healthy, he is working on building rapport with wide receiver George Pickens, whom the Cowboys acquired in a trade. At a press conference at his youth football camp, Prescott said he will be ready to go for camp, and praised the work Pickens has done so far.
Now recovered from that injury, Prescott hosted his annual retreat for skill players in Georgia. He used that time to get work in with his receivers, especially George Pickens. The Pittsburgh Steelers traded Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Cowboys for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
Pickens adds another receiving weapon across from 4-time Pro-Bowler Ceedee Lamb, and Prescott said the two are already pushing each other.
“That’s two guys that want the other guy to succeed just as much,” the quarterback said. “Literally, the best part about those two men is seeing it firsthand.”
Prescott recounted how, during the retreat, he would sneak into the house where they were staying and observe them from afar. He also noted that during OTAs, when the ball was in the air and one receiver was going to catch it, the other would already have his hands in the air in celebration.
“They love each other,” he said. “They love each other’s company. They love each other’s game. You just watch them on the field, them talking to each other, to just them being one-on-one on the porch, they’re going to push each other. And to be the guy that gets to get them the ball. It’s exciting ... we just got to continue to grow that.”
Prescott heaped praise on Pickens’s love for the game of football. He told reporters that he and Pickens had conversations about Prescott’s college career at Mississippi State. Pickens, a native of Alabama, played at Georgia from 2019 to 2022, three years after Prescott was drafted. There was no way someone would watch Prescott’s college game unless that person was “a football guy,” he said. That demonstrated knowledge and love for football put to rest much of the narratives about Pickens’ character in Prescott’s mind.
“[He’s a] great dude, loves his teammates and [is] excited as hell for this season,” Prescott said. “I know he is. I know he’s happy to be in a fresh new spot, and [I’m] excited for what he’s going to do for us.”
Prescott was also asked by a reporter how long it would take to develop a rapport with Pickens. The quarterback responded that it would not take long, pointing to the Cowboys’ midseason trade for Amari Cooper in 2018, and the trade for Brandin Cooks in the 2023 offseason. Prescott pointed to Pickens’s ability to get separation from the defender, whether the ball was being thrown his way or not, and his ability to make difficult catches when he was not getting separation.
“For me, it’s about getting that ball near that guy and letting him go be George Pickens. And you go turn on the tape. He’s great at doing that,” he said.
“We help each other every day,” he said at a press conference in June.
Pickens also said that Lamb’s celebrations were a good sign for their developing bond, and they would become more common as he got up to speed with the offense.
