Dak Prescott is Already Showing Crucial Leadership Skills After New Defender Embarassed Cowboys QB at Training Camp

If you’ve been watching the Dallas Cowboys closely, you know the camp has been full of drama so far. One of the standout moments? Former Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam intercepted none other than Dak Prescott during a drill, fairly close to cameras, media, and teammates in general. But more enlightening was what came after. Yeah, that’s the play that told us all we need to know about his approach to being a leader in this, a season on which the future of the franchise will depend.

So this was the scene: Kaiir Elam, the newcomer trying to make himself known in Dallas, reads a play, goes on a gut feeling, and gets an interception off Prescott. A nice win for the defense in a camp where every snap counts. But instead of returning to the huddle and getting over it, Prescott makes his way to Elam. He wants to know what the corner saw, perhaps tapping into his learnings from three years in Buffalo, because he’s trying to learn and get better. And more than anything, he wants to show all those young Cowboys he knows are watching that even the team’s highest-paid, most scrutinized player is open to being coached, even by a newcomer to the squad.

Elam later said he appreciated the gesture. And honestly, who wouldn’t? Last year, after not being able to appear in 10 games due to his hamstring injury, it’s about time that Prescott makes some changes for himself and his team for the upcoming season. Elam and Dak’s exchange at the training camp is more than just another teaching moment. It was establishing culture for the locker room as a whole, for him.

But what is most impressive about his response is not merely the accountability but the emotional regulation. One can see him being all pumped up for the upcoming session, as he told a reporter, “If you don’t want to win a Super Bowl, or don’t think we can win a Super Bowl, then don’t come to Oxnard. You’re in the wrong place,” on Thursday.

This episode also teases the kind of Prescott that we’ll see this season: poised, prepared, and locked in, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well, which is the perfect way to shift into what he’s been doing to get there.

How’s Dak Prescott’s offseason grind looking?

Prescott didn’t just stumble into this mindset. This calm, composed version of him has been forged through an offseason that was part rehab, part reflection, and full-on preparation. After tweaking his hamstring in spring workouts, Dak made it clear he was taking no chances.“I’ll be full go for camp. I’m healthy. Yeah, I think soon here I’ll probably get the official sign off from doc, but I’m healthy,” he told reporters in Oxnard. But it wasn’t just about getting back to full health, it was about leveling up every part of his game.

In and out of the training camp, everyone can see how Dak’s been preparing, ensuring he’s healthy and picking up his rapport with CeeDee Lamb. And for the 10th year QB, it is all fun and no sweat to continue his grinding for 2025, as he mentioned during one of the interviews, “Having fun and winning a Super Bowl. Period.”

This is why that moment with Elam wasn’t an accident. And if he keeps turning setbacks into teaching moments and offseason grind into on-field execution, the Cowboys might just follow his lead into January. Now that’s a QB worth following.