Dak Prescott earns well wishes from Carson Wentz and other NFL players, Falcons fire their head coach, and more NFL news

When Dak Prescott was tackled by Giants cornerback Logan Ryan, the speculation of his season ending immediately began. It didn’t look good.

Prescott’s ankle was bent as he went to the ground. The result was a right ankle compound fracture and dislocation.

Teammates gathered around Prescott as he was taken off the field on a cart. Former and opposing players also offered their support for Prescott.

Prescott and the Cowboys didn’t agree on a new long-term contract before the season. While Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson inked new contracts, Prescott played on a one-year franchise tag worth $31.4 million.

Now with Prescott’s future unknown, his chances of securing a contract that likely would’ve topped $100 million have decreased. It’s a tough blow for Prescott, as well as the Cowboys' future at the quarterback position.

Prescott is the type of guy who you should expect to recover and return from an injury of this magnitude. He’s shown strength in 2020. One of Prescott’s brothers died in April, and he dealt with anxiety and depression as a result of the death and the pandemic.

The way Prescott recovered from those down times to lead the NFL in passing yards before his injury provides a road map for how he can be expected to approach rehab.

Andy Dalton replaced the Prescott and led the Cowboys to a comeback victory, but there weren’t many happy faces in the Dallas locker room.

“It sucks," Ezekiel Elliott said after the game. "I know we won. It just sucks to lose Dak, our leader. We just got to go out there and play for him.”

The Atlanta Falcons have too much talent to have the worst record in the NFL, and apparently owner Arthur Blank has had enough of the underachieving.

The Falcons fired head coach Dan Quinn and team president Thomas Dimitroff. Quinn joins former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien as coaches fired this season.

Quinn had a hot start in Atlanta where he set the bar high for himself. He went 29-19 in his first three seasons and led the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2017. His record was 14-23 in the last three seasons.

“Our finish in 2019 earned an opportunity to show that momentum could be continued and built upon, but that has clearly not happened,” Blank said in a statement. “And overall, the last three-plus seasons have fallen short of my commitment to Atlanta and to our fans everywhere. I want them all to know that my commitment to winning has not wavered and I will continue to provide every resource possible to that end.”

Core offensive players like quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones remain from the championship. The Falcons have added former Offensive Player of the Year Todd Gurley at running back, and wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage have been reliable.

Quinn is a defensive guy who coordinated the Seattle Seahawks and their dominant Super Bowl-winning defense in 2014. The Falcons defense is 31st in the NFL with 446 yards and 32.2 points allowed per game.

The thing about taking a risk is you can look really smart or it could be the opposite.

The Minnesota Vikings had a strong drive and a 26-21 lead with two minutes remaining. Instead of kicking a chip-shot field goal to potentially take a 29-21 lead, the Vikings went for it on fourth-and-1 and failed. Minnesota gave the ball back to one of the league’s top MVP candidates, and Russell Wilson marched Seattle down the field and scored the game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.

The Seahawks missed the 2-point conversation and won, 27-26.

“I told them in the headset, we didn’t come here for this. Let’s go win it," Zimmer said.

If the Vikings had converted, Zimmer would have been a hero. Looking at the play, Zimmer may have made the right call, but backup running back Alex Mattison didn’t spot the open grass.