Dak Prescott trading in Jordan 11 cleats for Jordan 1s
Dak Prescott suffered a slight tweak to his surgically repaired ankle during practice this week — and it might be the GOAT's fault.
The Cowboys quarterback re-aggravated his right ankle by wearing a new pair of Jordan 11 cleats, forcing him to be limited at practice.
"I was limited today, but as I said, it is my ankle, but it’s just being very, very cautious," Prescott told reporters Thursday. "Switching shoes today probably wasn’t the best idea."
Prescott, a Jordan Brand athlete, tried on the new pair of Jordan 11 cleats in hopes of wearing them in Sunday's regular-season opener against the Buccaneers. But the issue caused by them at practice this week will have him wearing Jordan 1 cleats, which he wore during the preseason.
Even with the recent issue, Prescott said he feels the best he's been in a while entering a new season.
"I feel great. I still feel the best that I’ve felt in a very, very long time. Not even comparable to where I was last year going into this game. So, honestly just excited and ready for Sunday to get here."
While Prescott downplayed any injury concerns and is being so cautious that he's changing which cleats he wears, Skip Bayless is concerned.
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Skip Bayless believes Dak Prescott's ankle injury might be more serious than what he and the Cowboys are letting on.
"I'm scared to death about what happened to Dak's ankle yesterday. " Bayless said on Friday's "Undisputed." "I think it's a huge deal because they were compelled to make it a big deal after practice. They were compelled to do so because he couldn't continue practicing, that's how bad it was. He said it was a precaution. No, I don't think it was at all.
"Just when I thought it was safe to love this team, this happened."
In addition to being worried about Prescott's long-term health, Bayless believes the injury dampens Sunday's game, which he believes will be a preview of the NFC Championship Game in January.
"I believe we will look back at this matchup as the marquee matchup of the entire year because it's Tom Brady at the Dallas Cowboys," Bayless said. "It's the [greatest of all time] at America's Team. And yet, all of a sudden, the quarterback of America's Team, on the eve of this titanic clash, something goes very wrong because he's saying he aggravated an injury that was career-threatening. An injury that required two surgeries to fix his ankle.
"If he says he aggravated it, well, I haven't heard a peep about it since he came back last year. This was no issue last year. This was so serious because it was completely healed and fixed and something went really wrong yesterday."
Bayless also noted how unusual this recent injury is, noting that Prescott played in Jordan 11 cleats through much of last season.
"He played in, for reasons which I can't explain, the classic Jordan 1s throughout training camp and the scrimmages," Bayless said. "Every practice he played in Jordan 1s until yesterday, because [the regular season] is coming, so it's time to break in your 11s.
"He puts on the 11s and somehow, according to him, aggravate his ankle. I'm not buying it. I think it's a bunch of phony baloney. I think they're trying to pull wool over our eyes. I think he injured his ankle in practice yesterday."
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said he didn't have any concerns and that Prescott is expected to start on Sunday night.