Prescott: Cowboys' attendance for OTAs will 'pay off huge'

While many NFL teams skipped the voluntary portion of their early offseason programs, or agreed to modified OTAs, the Dallas Cowboys have had nearly full attendance since team workouts began.

Quarterback Dak Prescott believes the extra work this spring will yield benefits during the 2021 season.

"It's going to be huge. It's going to pay off," Prescott said, according to ESPN's Todd Archer. "Obviously, the mental aspect, knowing the scheme, whether it's the defense learning a new scheme or whether it's the offense being on the same page and communicating better, I think it's going to pay off huge when we get to training camp to have maybe that step that these other teams may not take during the offseason."

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy agreed with his star passer.

"We have a lot of changes from last year," he said. "The commitment has been tremendous in Phase 1 and Phase 2. It really puts us in a really good place to accomplish and get all eight installations here for these three weeks."

The National Football League Players Association advised players to skip all voluntary activities this year. While some clubs negotiated with their rosters, McCarthy opted to shorten Dallas' offseason program. He's running six OTA practices, and minicamp will feature abbreviated meetings.

"We realize we need this kind of work in the offseason," Cowboys tight end and NFLPA rep Dalton Schultz said. "We support everything the NFLPA's doing. We support all the guys that aren't showing up. That's a very personal decision for a lot of people. We're a very young team, and we can benefit highly from this kind of work that we're doing now."

Dallas is attempting to rebound from a disappointing 2020 campaign and will be installing a new defensive scheme run by former Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. Prescott is also returning to the field after sustaining a season-ending ankle injury last October.