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Cooper Rush #10 of the Dallas Cowboys

There was a time, and it was not that long ago, when some Dallas Cowboys observers wondered whether the team should be starting backup quarterback Cooper Rush ahead of the star QB1, Dak Prescott. That was back in 2022, when Rush helped guide the Cowboys on a four-game winning streak while Prescott was out with a thumb injury. Few will admit it was ever a controversy, but the “Cooper Rush vs. Dak Prescott” headlines are still out there on the Google machine.

Prescott has, since then, thrown for more than 13,000 yards, been selected for two Pro Bowls, led the league in completions twice and touchdowns once, and taken his place atop the Cowboys’ all-time franchise leaderboard for passing yards.

Rush filled in with eight starts for the Cowboys in 2024, when Prescott suffered a hamstring injury, in what was his last go-round in Dallas. Rush signed with the Ravens last year and struggled (0-2 in two starts), and now, at age 32 and what has been a very successful career as an NFL backup behind him, Rush is making another bid to stick in the league.

Ex-Cowboys QB Cooper Rush Working at Vikings Minicamp

This weekend, Rush was at the Vikings minicamp, working on a tryout basis for a team on which he would be third string, at best. And probably not even that–the Vikings have Kyler Murray as their likely starter and 2024 No. 10 pick JJ McCarthy also on board, with Carson Wentz likely the QB2 or QB3. It’s a steep drop from his Cowboys days–Rush is pretty much in Minnesota because the Vikings did not draft or sign a UDFA quarterback, so they need someone to throw passes to their rookies.

That’s not to be disrespectful to the career Rush carved out for himself, especially considering he was an undrafted kid out of Central Michigan in 2016, and could hardly have been expected to still be kicking around the NFL a decade later.

Cooper Rush: ‘The Name of the Game is Be Ready’

And it’s still possible that, with an injury to someone along the way as OTAs get rolling, and training camp this summer, that a team will call on the ex-Cowboys signal-caller to join the fray. Rush has a good reputation as a backup quarterback who helps the room, even if he is not playing.

As he said about the job last year, “The name of the game is be ready. That’s your job description, your number one job description, is be ready. And your goal, when you’re called upon, you go win. That’s the job. I feel like I can do a good job of when you have to be that guy, you can be that guy, and when you don’t, you go back to that other role — being an asset in the room while still preparing. I think just throughout the years, I’ve gotten better at that.”

Cowboys Set for Backup QB Battle

Of course, that probably won’t include a return engagement with the Cowboys, who have their room pretty well filled right now. The team made a surprise push to add veteran Sam Howell in free agency, a former fifth-round pick who made 17 starts for Washington in 2023.

Howell and incumbent QB2 Joe Milton will be one of the offseason battles worth watching for Dallas, as the Cowboys traded for Milton last year but obviously are not comfortable with the notion of him being elevated to starter in case of an injury.