The Dallas Cowboys have announced that Trey Lance will start the final game of the NFL season on Sunday.
Lance, a former first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers, has yet to start for the Cowboys.
But the game against the Washington Commanders will be Lance’s first regular season start since Week 2 of the 2022 season.
Cowboys franchise quarterback Dak Prescott was ruled out for the season in Week 9 due to a torn hamstring.
Cooper Rush played in Prescott’s absence, but he will serve as Lance’s backup in Week 18.
The Cowboys (7-9) are facing an uncertain season with coach Mike McCarthy, who is on an expiring contract.
The Cowboys announced that Trey Lance will start the final game of the NFL season on Sunday
After Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury, Dallas found a way to win four of five games to keep things from spiraling out of control.
But McCarthy, a Super Bowl winner with Green Bay, has been unable to get the Cowboys past the divisional round of the playoffs during his tenure in Dallas.
The same was true for the five coaches before him, going all the way back to the last of the storied franchise’s five Super Bowl titles to conclude the 1995 season.
McCarthy, who won his Super Bowl with the Packers at the home of the Cowboys after the 2010 season, was asked if he thought Sunday’s game might be his last for Dallas.
“I’ll be honest, this time in my career I’m going to the stadium a lot earlier than I used to,” said the 61-year-old.
“I won a Super Bowl in that locker room at home at AT&T Stadium. So I have a very strong emotional connection that it affects me every time I walk in there and every time I walk out. I don’t think about it now, but yes, I’m definitely aware of it.’