Cowboys' Brandin Cooks calls criticism of Dak Prescott 'unbelievable' and 'blasphemy;' QB says he is 'blessed'

FRISCO, Texas -- Right or wrong, quarterbacks are given the lion's share of the credit and the brunt of the criticism depending on how their NFL team performs on game day. It makes some sense considering it's the position that has the largest impact on a given game's result. 

The Dallas Cowboys know that better than anyone given the venom-filled critique that comes Dak Prescott's way, particularly after the team's 48-32 NFC wild-card playoff disappointment at home against the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers in January. However, Cowboys wide receiver Brandin Cooks, an 11th-year veteran who has registered over 1,000 receiving yards with four different teams, is putting his foot down on the unyielding criticism going Prescott's way as the 2023 Second Team All-Pro quarterback is in the midst of a very public contract negotiation. 

The 30-year-old wide receiver has caught passes from the likes of Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Jared Goff, Deshaun Watson and Davis Mills throughout his career, which includes stops with the New Orleans Saints (2014-2016), New England Patriots (2017), Los Angeles Rams (2018-2019) and Houston Texans (2020-2022) before being traded to the Cowboys in 2023. Never before has he seen a quarterback of his get attacked to the level Prescott does. 

"It's blasphemy. It's unbelievable," Cooks said on Wednesday when asked about the criticism Prescott takes. "The guy shows up every year, year in and year out. Putting up numbers, leading his team. He can't do it all by himself. A lot of those great quarterbacks that I've been with, Tom[Brady] and Drew [Brees], don't get me wrong, they won a lot of games, won a lot of Super Bowls, but they had a lot of help around them as well, right? Us players around [Dak] also got to step up. So when we hear that disrespect, I take that personally and as his teammates we should take that personally, because at the end of the day, somebody has got to be able to help him get over that hump so we can go win one."  

Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith had a similar reaction to criticism of Prescott on Thursday. 

"That's my brother," Smith said. "A lot of people have a lot of opinions about people and what they think or how things are, but one thing I know is a reality and a fact is we're in here grinding every day. This man leaves the building last almost every day, whether people know it or not. "Just seeing the work he puts in on the field, the way he encourages us, the way he uplifts us, it's something huge. I got his back, I know he has mine."

Prescott was aware of Cooks' and others comments on the topic prior to his Thursday media session with local reporters, and he called the support of the locker room a blessing. 

"I'm blessed with so many of those guys in there," Prescott said Thursday. "I know we're talking about one or maybe multiple guys but obviously I've seen what Cooks said and I've mentioned time and time again that's one of the best men that I've ever played with. Obviously one of the best football payers, you look at his resume and what he's done, but one of the best men and that's a guy, he's an epitome of what I mean by somebody that just the way that they carry themselves, the way that they approach life, push you to be your best each and every day. And there's been so any of those guys and I'm fortunate to be the quarterback, being able to connect with so many different people at this position and something I don't take for granted in any means."

To Cooks' point, the Dallas defense allowed the youthful Packers offense, led by first-time starting quarterback Jordan Love, to score touchdowns on six of their first seven drives, including five consecutive drives in a row. Prescott put together what was arguably the best year of his eight-year career in 2023, throwing for an NFL-best 36 touchdowns and registering the best passer rating of his NFL life (105.9, the second-best in the league last season). That production also led to receiver CeeDee Lamb earning the first First Team All-Pro selection of his young career after catching an NFL-best 135 passes for 1,749 yards (the second-most in the NFL) in the first season of coach Mike McCarthy serving as the Cowboys' offensive play-caller. Lamb's receptions and receiving yards totals broke Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin's single-season team records in those metrics set back in 1995, the last Super Bowl season for the Cowboys. As a result of Prescott's efforts, Dallas possessed the No. 1 scoring offense in football, averaging 29.9 points per game. 

Dak Prescott 2023 Season

* First in Cowboys history to be outright NFL pass TD leader in a season

Yes, Cooks admitted the team is aware of the commotion surround Prescott, but the team doesn't have the ugly remarks at the top of its mind. 

"We locked in," Cooks said. "I think the big focus is tuning out the noise, focusing on what we got inside this locker room and taking it one game at a time and not get caught up in the roller-coaster of a season or, what people are saying."

Some may perceive Cooks standing up for his quarterback in a public manner just days before their Week 1 opener at the Cleveland Browns on Sunday as pandering, but the wide receiver maintains his defense comes from a place of love and respect for how Prescott lives his life, not just as a football player. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback overcame the death of his mother Peggy Prescott in 2023 after she lost a battle with colon cancer, and he beat the odds of making it in the NFL as a fourth-round pick back in 2016, now entering his ninth season as the Cowboys starting QB. Prescott also established a foundation (Faith, Fight Finish) that funds colon cancer research, mental health advocacy, law enforcement and community funding and hardship assistance. His philanthropy earned the quarterback the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2022, which is given to the NFL player who displays exemplary, humanitarian commitment to charity and community service. 

"Like I've told Dak before, and I'm not saying this because I want the ball, but I have so much for love for that guy," Cooks said. "Just his story, forget being a player. So you cherish those moments with guys like that. Our receiver room, like I said our locker room and everything year in and year out changes. To be able to have that relationship that goes past football, and it's going to last a lifetime, but these moments don't last forever."

Entering their second season as teammates, Prescott expects an even bigger year with Cooks, whose eight receiving touchdowns were tied for the most eighth-most in the league in 2023. 

"Especially going into this season knowing that teams are going to take away 88 [CeeDee Lamb], or try to take away 88, as they should. You need these other guys to step up, Cooks being the veteran, being the guy whose resume out of those others stands alone, you know he has the production. You know he has the in-game production against different opponents with different quarterbacks. For me, it's about making sure that our rapport is invincible. We understand what we both want to do. I can anticipate more with the guy. He understands when I'm throwing the ball in and out of routes. We all can expect a little bit more out of it.

McCarthy spoke with Prescott on Wednesday morning just prior to his regular press conference, and he raved about his quarterback's focus ahead of the 2024 season. 

"I think he does an excellent job of it," McCarthy said of Prescott's ability to compartmentalize. "I think he's got a tremendous support system. Just frankly just left him in the quarterback and center meeting and yeah, he's all football. He's dialed in. He's always been that way, so I think he does an excellent job of that."

Prescott himself admitted he even tunes out Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones' public comments to the media in an effort to remain locked in ahead of a make-or-break season in Dallas in which 24 players, including himself are entering the final years of their current contracts (according to OverTheCap.com), along with McCarthy and his entire coaching staff. 

"When you look to the left or right and there's so many people in that situation, I think it makes is a little bit easier to lock in and wrap those arms around each other and say 'this is on us to change that, to make it different, to be here next year,'" Prescott said. "Also just going into year nine, all my past experiences, all of that, plays into the hand of making me, this team better and making that feel different, I guess you could say."