OXNARD, Calif. — Von Miller told Dak Prescott over dinner in Las Vegas that it was time for the Dallas Cowboys quarterback to break through. Miller signed with Dallas on Tuesday and took his first practice reps Thursday.
Prescott was asked what he remembered about the conversation.
“I remember all of that. I know it might be hard to believe,” Prescott said. “It’s not anything I haven’t believed or we haven’t believed around here. Wouldn’t be talking and saying the goals and the things as confident as we have. And so, yeah, I remember that conversation. It was at dinner.”
Prescott said the relationship goes back well beyond that night.
“I’ve known Von for years, well before we met up in Vegas at the time of the UFC fights,” Prescott explained. “That was just a normal, oh, hey, Von. It happens in Dallas multiple times, too. So, knowing Von, obviously played against Von, know the type of player and the person he is, I’m super excited to get a guy like that on our side.”
Miller grew up in DeSoto and played high school football there.
What Dak Prescott Expects Von Miller To Add
Prescott pointed to what teammates in Buffalo and Washington have said about Miller rather than to the sack total.
“Understanding the teammate that he’s been at two other places, hear other people talking about him, hear the way that he sees himself as a teammate,” Prescott said. “A veteran like that, with his rush, with his abilities, with the way that he can impact and affect, we always want to add something like that. So just glad they got that done.”
Prescott returned to the dinner conversation and what Miller brings beyond the field.
“Just having a guy like that added to the team who, one, believes that, but is also going to do everything in his willpower to produce and to help win and help pour belief in the other teammates just makes it all better,” Prescott continued.
Miller agreed to terms Sunday on a one-year deal worth $5.5 million, with a maximum value of $7.5 million. He signed Tuesday in Oxnard. He is 37 and entering his 15th NFL season with his fifth team.
He had nine sacks in 17 games for the Washington Commanders last season and has 138.5 for his career, the most among active players. Denver drafted him second overall in 2011 out of Texas A&M. He was the Super Bowl 50 MVP.
Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday that Miller worked a limited number of reps inside a ramp-up protocol and that the Cowboys have built a specific plan for him.
Dak Prescott Credits The Front Office
Asked about the changes between this offseason and now, Prescott put the credit on the head coach and the owners.
“I can’t give enough credit, honestly, to him and the Joneses,” Prescott said. “I don’t think I’d be saying the goals and saying them as confident and trying to manifest without the things that they’ve done, without the decisions they’ve made, without the signings that they have, the extensions that they’ve given the certain guys.”
He said the urgency comes from the top.
“They understand what we’re trying to do and the urgency in it,” Prescott explained. “And I think as much as Jerry ever has in my tenure here.”
Dallas hired Christian Parker as defensive coordinator in January. The Cowboys drafted Caleb Downs 11th overall and Malachi Lawrence in the first round, signed Rashan Gary and Jalen Thompson in free agency, extended Quinnen Williams for three years and $105.9 million on Aug. 12, and added Miller on Sunday.
The Cowboys went 7-9-1 last season and allowed 511 points, the most in the NFL. Prescott completed 404-of-600 passes for 4,552 yards with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and started every game.
Thursday closed the Oxnard portion of camp. Dallas plays at the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday and holds open practices at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco on Aug. 25 and Aug. 26.
The preseason ends against the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium on Friday, Aug. 28. Kickoff is 7 p.m. CT. Dallas opens the regular season Sept. 13 at the New York Giants.
