ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys will start Garrett Gilbert at quarterback, a source confirmed to D210Sports. NFL Network was first to report the update.
With Andy Dalton on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Dallas had an open competition during the week of practice between Gilbert and Cooper Rush. Despite Gilbert taking most of the first-team reps, Mike McCarthy stressed that both players would be ready to start on Sunday.
“ I think the most important point, as far as the goal, is to make sure both Garrett and Cooper are ready, “ McCarthy told reporters on Friday. “ I mean, the reps aren’t being distributed equally; I really don’t want to get into specifics of it. But just learning from last week’s experience, just with all the pressure in the Philadelphia game, just to give the best opportunity offensively.”
After the struggles of rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci against the Eagles in week eight, McCarthy prioritized having a more experienced quarterback under center in facing the undefeated Steelers. Gilbert has now thrown less passes than DiNucci, who was 21-of-40 for 180 yards vs. Philadelphia, in contrast to his six appearances with the Panthers and Browns finishing 2-of-6 for 40 yards. In regards to experience, the Cowboys’ coaching staff was looking at number of years in the league as opposed to completions.
Gilbert was signed of the Browns’ practice squad on Oct. 12 and he will be making his first NFL start. The former Texas and SMU product was selected by the (then) St. Louis Rams in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He saw little playing time in the league and was mainly assigned to team’s practice squads. He had stints with the Patriots (2014-2015), Lions (2015), Raiders (2015-2016), Panthers (2017-2018), and Browns (2019-2020).
He had the most success as the starting quarterback of the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019 where Gilbert led the league in yards and passer rating on the way to obtaining a league-best 7-1 record.
Football runs in his blood as the son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert.
On Gilbert, McCarthy described, “ He’s played a lot of quarterback. This guy grew up a quarterback. His father was a quarterback. I mean he knows how to play the position. There’s no lack for confidence or know-how. Just really it’s about getting the timing and the continuity in order as far as running the offense.”
Rush had familiarity with the offensive system under Kellen Moore and the Cowboys’ receivers as the backup to Dak Prescott from 2017-2019, which was seen as a bonus but the staff opted for Gilbert.
All along, McCarthy said the decision would come down to “rhythm, continuity, and command” of the offense and it looks like they found the winner to evoke confidence in the huddle.
