Cowboys QB Dak Prescott promises improvement in 2023: 'I won't have 10 interceptions this year'
There are only eight days until training camp opens for the Dallas Cowboys, and quarterback Dak Prescott is already chomping at the bit to show how much he and the team have improved since last year's 12-5 campaign, which ended with a divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
But until Prescott can actually show off the team's improvement on the field, he's content to tell the world how much better they're going to be. And to his credit, that starts with him. Prescott led the NFL in interceptions in 2022 with 15, a number that becomes even more astounding once you realize he did that in just 12 games.
He promised he wouldn't repeat that feat in 2023.
"I won't have 10 interceptions this year," Prescott said via NFL.com.
That's a bold claim, but Prescott has a solid reason behind it. Head coach Mike McCarthy has taken over play-calling since the Cowboys fired offensive coordinator Kellen Moore at the end of the 2022 season, and Prescott says that change has led to improved communication between the offense and the coaches.
"Some of it is the offense and them understanding exactly where we are," Prescott said. "Mike does an amazing job with those guys. They know where to be, why to be, when they're getting looked at. That's going to be a big jump."
Prescott is right: a key part of being a receiver is knowing where you're supposed to be and why during a play. But can that be blamed for his high number of interceptions in 2022? Prescott says yes.
"I know who I am, and you can go back and take away half of those off drops," Prescott said. "I'm not saying it's on the receiver, but if you cut that in half then we start talking about those, nobody is talking about it."
It's very interesting that Prescott believes he's not responsible for some of his interceptions! Let's check the facts on that. According to Bobby Kownack of NFL.com, five of Prescott's 15 interceptions deflected off of Cowboys receivers, which comes to 1/3 of his total interceptions — not quite half.
But since the NFL has yet to introduce a rule that allows quarterbacks to change their interception total to however many they feel are their fault, it doesn't really matter. Those 15 interceptions happened, regardless of how or why. The lesson from that is to get better, which Prescott says he (and the rest of the offense) is committed to doing.
