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Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Stringer

Dak Prescott isn't ready to push the issue just yet regarding his healing shoulder, but he's just about where he wants to be -- given how much time is left before the season opener against Tom Brady and the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The two-time Pro Bowler suffered a shoulder strain two weeks ago and pulled himself from practice early as a precaution, and mostly hasn't been allowed to throw since, as the Dallas Cowboys medical staff prescribes lots of rest. So when owner Jerry Jones noted the injury had "improved dramatically" toward the end of last week, it appeared all was/is going according to plan.

And, to that point, Prescott was seen in the Tuesday walk-through tossing passes to four-time Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper -- (physically unable to perform) list only hours prior. The two are wasting no time getting back to establishing their chemistry after having not been on the field together since last October, when Prescott went down with a season-ending fractured ankle. Prescott was available to do controlled work in OTAs and minicamp, but Cooper was recovering from offseason ankle surgery. 

Much to the Cowboys' pleasure, they're both on the practice field again and [slowly] working their way back to normal as one of the more prolific QB/WR duos in the NFL.

In all, Prescott tossed 10 passes to Cooper from varying ranges, and with the training staff overseeing the session.

"Dak's continuing to progress in a really good way," offensive coordinator Kellen Moore told media. "... He'll be ready to go as we draw closer to September."

"We're being cautious," Prescott said during halftime of the Hall of Fame Game via teleconference from Oxnard, California, as his Cowboys took on the Pittsburgh Steelers. "We're taking it day by day. Obviously, it's five weeks before the season opener, so I've got a lot of time. I'm going to use that time to get myself ready for that game."

The amount of expectations and pressure on Prescott and the Cowboys in 2021 stack higher than the summit of Mount Olympus, so the sooner he and his staple of weapons can regain their chemistry, the better. And with Cooper back in the mix -- expected to be ramped up in deliberate fashion to be ready for Week 1 -- all signs point to the Cowboys offense again being healthy and ready to potentially bounce back from a dismal 6-10 finish to the 2020 season that was fueled largely by the absence of Prescott and other key players, e.g. Tyron Smith, La'el Collins and Zack Martin (several games). 

And if they can hit one or more of CBS Sports' bold predictions for them this season, it will definitely be what Prescott predicted it could be when asked earlier this offseason: "very, very special". And as it turns out, once again, rumors of his supposed demise were greatly exaggerated.