Dak Prescott: ‘Keep talking — we’re ready to go play’

Locker room camaraderie is everything in the National Football League. And although having talent up and down a roster is one thing, if a group of guys can’t mesh, their ability is good as defunct. 

According to many, the Dallas Cowboys underwent a substantial downgrade in the talent department from a year ago, but for QB1 Dak Prescott, their winning chances remain as strong as ever. 

“Where we are right now, it’s all excitement. It is,” Prescott said.

That excitement is in large part due to the uniqueness of the chemistry Dallas has built in the locker room.

Prescott called the Cowboys’ current compilation of names the “best” locker room he’s ever been a part of. He also claimed that the team was primed to do something it’s never done before.

“It’s truly a privilege to be the quarterback of this team, to be a leader of these guys — offense, defense, this coaching staff that we have,” he said. “And yeah, especially with everything being said about us — you know what I mean? — the lack of what we have. Keep writing. Keep talking — we’re ready to go play.”

Although his vote of confidence for the Cowboys is a positive sign heading into a matchup against Tampa Bay in Week 1, “Undisputed” cohost Shannon Sharpe wouldn’t allow Prescott’s words to pull a wool over his eyes.

“Dak has mastered not only playing quarterback, but speaking like a quarterback,” Sharpe said on Monday’s show. “He’s saying all the right things. … At the end of the day, it comes down to winning ballgames. You can have a close locker room, you can have a divided locker room. But are you winning games? … We’ll see how close that locker room is if they have a rough spot, where they lose a few games in a row.

“At the end of the day, he’s going to wish he had Amari [Cooper]. You don’t realize how much you miss something until it’s no longer there. … It’s just not that easy [to replace that].”

Skip Bayless revealed high expectations for Dallas heading into the new season, and argued that Cooper’s loss wouldn’t be as detrimental to the Cowboys’ offense as Sharpe had claimed. 

The reason? CeeDee Lamb is a top-five talent in Bayless’ opinion.

“This is addition by subtraction,” Bayless said. “[Cooper’s] presence stunted the growth on one CeeDee Lamb.

“[Dallas] gave Amari a way just to get him out from under both Dak and CeeDee Lamb. They’re now going to force new chemistry between Dak and CeeDee. Amari is not as good, as explosive and CeeDee Lamb will be. CeeDee just turned 23 years of age, and he’s going to explode on the league this year.”

Prescott and Dallas play Tom Brady and the Bucs on Sunday at 8:20 p.m. ET.