Brian Schottenheimer met with the media on Wednesday and said that it remains to be seen how much, if at all, the starters will play in the preseason. Dak Prescott will only play a drive or two at most, which means that Joe Milton III will handle a majority of the snaps.
The Dallas Cowboys only have three quarterbacks on their roster, and it’s clear that they want Milton to give plenty of snaps with the hopes that he can be the No. 2 quarterback behind Prescott. Will Grier will surely get some snaps, but this is Milton’s job to lose, and the Cowboys are expected to give him plenty of opportunities.
Cowboys QB Joe Milton should shine in the preseason
Milton is made for preseason football and that’s essentially what his Week 18 start against the Bills was last year. Buffalo rested nearly every key contributor and Milton shined during that performance and it ended up costing the Patriots a chance at a top-three pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
It’s been a bit of a mixed bag for Milton throughout training camp, but the overall takeaway is that he’s shown enough to get excited about going into preseason. Milton suffered a hand injury during the team’s joint practice with the Rams, but he is “fine,” according to Schottenheimer and is on track to play in the preseason contest on Saturday.
Milton won’t get to play with the top receivers for the Cowboys (CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens), but you can bet he’ll get plenty of run with Jalen Tolbert, Jonathan Mingo, and the rest of the unit. And against a secondary that has had lots of issues, this sets up well for Milton to post some big numbers in the preseason.
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There is no doubt that Milton will have some highlight plays, and he should be able to create some explosive plays with his legs. And given that he’s likely to play a ton of snaps, the overall numbers should be eye-popping.
But the thing to watch here is how Milton navigates the pocket. Is he holding the ball too long? Can he make throws to his second and third reads? Can he be accurate enough on the simple passes? Those are all questions he will need to answer if he wants to have any hope of being a starting quarterback in the NFL down the road.
This is a big preseason for Milton as it will not only decide if he can be Prescott’s backup for the 2025 season, but also if he can be an eventual successor down the road.
Needless to say, he needs to perform well. He’s much further along than where Trey Lance was at this time last year, so don’t be surprised if the former Tennessee star winds up being the MVP of the preseason for the Cowboys.
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