“Right Now Is the Keyword”: Cam Newton Reacts to Dak Prescott Getting Excluded From Top 5 QB List by Own Teammates

It seems like things are going from bad to worse for Dak Prescott. A brief clip from Micah Parsons’ podcast showed us that Parsons and Trevon Diggs don’t rank Prescott among the best quarterbacks in the league. As NFL stars Cam Newton and Ryan Clark have assessed, this is not a good look for the Cowboys playmaker.

In the latest episode of ESPN’s “First Take”, Cam Newton, Ryan Clark, and Stephen A. Smith reacted to the infamous clip from “The Edge with Micah Parsons” where Diggs and Micah omit Dak from their top 5 QBs list. They named Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and even Sam Darnold. But the Cowboys quarterback was nowhere to be seen.

For Cam, however, the saving grace for Dak is his teammates’ repeated usage of the phrase “right now.” Newton saw it as Diggs and Parsons being honest enough to admit that Prescott is having a bad time, rather than sugarcoating or being overly critical.

He saw it as more of a realistic take, which is both a good and bad thing. Good when looked at from the players’ side and bad from Dak’s perspective.

“I don’t think it’s foul because the key word here is right now… they said it multiple times in that tape [that they] don’t know a lot of people playing good football right now [and] Dak Prescott is not playing good football right now.”

Ryan Clark, meanwhile, noted that Micah and Diggs’ omission was a very honest take because Dak isn’t a top 5 QB for him as well. But this open omission also made him feel that things are not as cordial as they should be in the locker room.

Clark argued that typically, teammates either have their QB in the top 5 by default or let the viewers know beforehand that their list comprises QBs other than their teammate. For the former NFL safety, this painted a concerning picture of the Dallas Cowboys locker room environment.

Clark further argued that the unfiltered remarks from Parsons and Diggs stem from their owner, Jerry Jones. According to Clark, when the team’s owner doesn’t convey a winner’s language of grace, it’s hard to expect his players to do so either.

“Jerry Jones doesn’t speak a Winner’s language. Jerry Jones isn’t focused on the locker room in this team. He’s focused on having the biggest business, not the best football team. All of that trickles down around your entire organization.”

That said, it’s also hard to realistically place the Cowboys QB amongst the playmakers listed by the duo.

Who are the best QBs currently in the league for Micah and Trevon?

The conversation about the top QBs was initiated by Micah Parsons, who was simply in awe of the numbers rookie Jayden Daniels is putting up for the Commanders. Trevon Diggs agreed with his teammate and confirmed that the rookie playmaker is a “top 10” QB in the league already.

The duo then unanimously agreed that Vikings’ Sam Darnold, the breakout star of the season [1,610 passing yards, 14 TDs], is in their top 5 QB list. Veteran Lions playmaker Jared Goff was also a lock in their top 5, as they raved about how brilliant he has been this season.

The rest of the names included the usual suspects like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, and Jalen Hurts. Apart from Dak Prescott, the notable omissions were Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love, and Caleb Williams.

That said, kudos to Diggs and Micah for keeping it real and not including Dak just for the sake of teammate camaraderie. May this reality check be enough motivation for the Cowboys QB to find his mojo again!