Indeed, all hope might be lost for Dallas Cowboys this season. Or, you know, if it wasn’t already.

The Dak Prescott injury that prematurely sidelined the Cowboys quarterback in the club’s Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, moving Dallas to 3-5 on the season, was the last absolute thing the team needed. And it was pretty clear after that the prognosis wasn’t positive, with rumors that Prescott would be placed on Injured Reserve as a result of the injury. But it could be even worse than us though.

On Wednesday, NFL insider Jane Slater reported that Prescott suffered a “partial hamstring avulsion, which is partially torn from the bone.” In layman’s terms, his hamstring was partially torn from his hip bone. More importantly, Slater noted that recovery from this injury normally takes more than four weeks, and that the only reason the quarterback hasn’t already been placed on IR is because he’s seeking more medical opinions.

On the face of it, none of this sounds remotely positive for the Cowboys in a season that is already frighteningly low on positivity.

Unless Prescott comes back with a medical that says he can play right away, this really sounds like a case for him to go on IR and be shut down for the rest of the season. Conservatively, let’s say he was going to be back within six weeks of this injury – that would put him back in Week 16. What realistic chance is there that the Cowboys have absolutely anything to play for at that point in the season?

Even if he were healthy, there’s a chance the Cowboys won’t be playing for anything at that point in the year based on how things have gone so far. Again, the team is 3-5 and the vibes couldn’t be more doomy. Prescott’s injury only makes the decision to include him that much more obvious.

While that might be dismissive to some extent, the simple truth is that a Dallas team without Dak Prescott under center is even less likely to win football games than they already have. All due respect to Cooper Rush, but that’s a substantial drop in reserve. And if Prescott’s injury is one that requires a long recovery time, there’s really no need to rush him back given the state of the franchise.

In an ideal world where we think long term, Prescott could steadily recover from this injury and then return for offseason workouts and training camp before the 2025 season with a new head coach, new coordinator offense and a new defensive coordinator at the helm of the ship.

We don’t live in that ideal world, at least not yet, but this latest update on the Cowboys star’s injury doesn’t leave much room for optimism about what the rest of his and his team’s 2024 season will look like.