Dak Prescott is taking each step of his rehab in stride.
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback noted relishing in "small victories" along the way as he makes his way back from the first major injury of his professional career.
Prescott suffered a season-ending dislocated right ankle on Oct. 11, which includes an estimated four-to-six month rehab.
Joining NFL Network's Steve Wyche on the Pepsi Rookie Roundtable, Prescott said that his current situation has made him realize how lucky he had been to avoid significant injury in the past.
The Cowboys QB said his advice to rookies is to savor every moment because you never know how quickly things can change.Â
"Don't take anything that you're doing for granted," he said, via the team's official website. "No matter how big or how small it is, don't take it for granted because it's a blessing. I've been able to play every level of my career because the guy in front of me has gotten injured, so I know what it means to be ready and to stay ready in case a guy gets injured in front of you.
"But now to be that guy that's injured for the first time in my career missing the rest of the season, it's different. It's tough. But for me, it's about making and creating small victories. So each and every day when I wake up and I go in for rehab, it's about, for me, seeing my leg or seeing my body do something that it didn't do the day before or creating a feeling that I didn't have before so I know that I'm continuing to get better.
"And at the end of the day, I know my team needs me. And I know they need me now for support, but they'll need me again later. So it's about helping them whichever way that I can and however I can. But it's about being right mentally and then counting those small victories."
Those small victories can become one large stepping stone.
Prescott was leading the league with 1,857 yards passing with nine TDs when he went down after just five games. Given he was playing some of the best football of his career, Prescott can use the injury as motivation to push him higher with each small step toward his return in 2021.
