It should be clear by now that Dak Prescott is more advanced than the majority of young quarterbacks who have come before him.
The latest example: He enters today's game with only four interceptions in his first 498 attempts. Very quickly, possibly on the first possession, Prescott will be the first player in NFL history to have five or fewer interceptions on his first 500 attempts.
"To me, it's just numbers," Prescott said. "The milestone doesn't mean anything.
"As I said, my main focus is taking care of the ball, keeping the ball in our team's hands. I mean, whatever the stat is really doesn't mean anything. You've just got to go out there and take care of the ball week in and week out."
The Cowboys quarterback began his career at this time last year by throwing 176 passes before he had one picked off. He had a stretch of 171 passes without an interception later in the season.
Prescott hasn't thrown an interception in a regular season game since December 11.
"I think I prepare really hard to do that, to know what the defense is going to give me," Prescott said. "I measure out my risk and rewards throughout practice and know the throws I can make chances on in the game to try and eliminate 50-50 interceptions and things like that."
Again, the stat itself doesn't mean much to Prescott. What it represents does. It's a formula for winning.
"That's what it means to me, that I'm playing winning football, I'm not turning it over," Prescott said. "Having the record doesn't mean anything.
"Taking care of the ball means a lot to me, yes."
Fan of the fish
New Miami Dolphins kicker Cody Parkey had the team logo hanging in his bedroom growing up in Jupiter, Fla., and remains a fan.
"To this day, I still get the updates of the halftime scores and stuff," Parkey said. "So after the games on my phone I'm like, 'Oh, the Dolphins won.' "
He won't need phone updates today, when he makes his Dolphins debut against the Los Angeles Chargers. The fourth-year NFL veteran was claimed off waivers this month after being released by the Cleveland Browns.
"When my agent called me and told me that I got picked up off waivers by the Dolphins, I was pretty stoked," Parkey said.
A double debut
Making his NFL debut wasn't the only exciting thing that happened to New York Giants placekicker Aldrick Rosas this past weekend.
Hours before the Sunday night game in Dallas, Rosas' girlfriend, Tiffany Lopez, gave birth to their first child in California. He watched the birth on his phone at 4:15 a.m. CDT after a four-hour labor.
"The whole day I went to the game and felt pretty special to have my first child on my first NFL game," Rosas said. "Kind of two dreams coming true."
Rosas' girlfriend had planned to be induced Monday, but the baby arrived early, which necessitated him watching the birth on FaceTime.
"It was a little grainy," the 22-year-old said. "It was good to kind of be there in support. It was an amazing feeling."
Sports quiz
Who holds the NFL record for the most interceptions thrown?
Answer
Brett Favre, 336
Sports on 09/17/2017