Business-as-usual Cowboys QB Cooper Rush forgot to do his postgame interview after Monday’s win

Watching his interviews with the press, Cooper Rush seems like anything but an NFL quarterback. An accountant, maybe. Assistant manager at a car rental counter. The guy in charge of approving building permits down at City Hall.

He doesn’t come across as the man currently under center for America’s Team, winner of his only three pro starts, slayer of last year’s AFC champs and primetime-TV Giant-killer.

No, it all seems very business-as-usual for the unflappable Mr. Rush, as if going 21-of-31 for 215 yards, with one brilliant touchdown toss and zero interceptions against a previously-undefeated rival in their own house to engineer a fourth-quarter comeback win while merely keeping the seat warm for a dude who makes $40 million a year and is a nationally-recognized spokesman in his downtime is just another day at the office.

In fact, Rush was so nonplussed by leading the Cowboys to their 23-16 Week 3 win that after the final gun, he was the first one back in the visitors locker room. Starting quarterback Dak Prescott and team PR man Tad Carper had to chase him down and remind him to go do a postgame interview with the Monday Night Football crew.

It was just about the only mistake Rush made all night.

Later, in front of the assembled media members, Rush went full Bull Durham-mode with his generic press conference soundbites.

“Division opponent; you want to get off in the division on the right foot,” Rush stated. “Another great team win. Our defense holding another offense under 20, running the rock, making plays outside. It’s just kind of what we want to do. We wanted to come in here and, division game, it’s what it’s about, coming in and [getting a] win.”

Boring? Perhaps. But the undrafted Central Michigan product had been nearly surgical in the fourth quarter, going 7-of-8 on an 11-play, 89-yard drive that ate up 6:12 and ended with a touchdown catch by CeeDee Lamb to retake a lead that Dallas never relinquished.

Rush allowed himself just a few quick fist pumps as he walked back to the sideline. He was so focused on the job at hand that he didn’t even realize Lamb had just made the circus grab with one hand.

“He doesn’t get rattled,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said after the win. “That’s the guy,” he continued, making a flatline motion with his hand. “He’s the same every day. So, so consistent.”

Rush’s consistency and confidence is the thing that stands out most to all to his coaches and teammates, his unexcitability his most standout trait.

“He just does a really good job of just playing the game, playing each situation, handling the highs and lows,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said this week. “He does a tremendous job of that throughout the games. You can just see the confidence. I think anytime you see a quarterback take his drop, plant his back foot, see it, trust it, let it rip, that’s confidence right there. You’re seeing a lot of that in Coop right now.”

But the sixth-year backup knows his time in the spotlight is finite. With Prescott trending toward a return to action in the next few weeks, Rush is making the most in his current role as the often-dreaded “game manager” or “bus driver” of the Cowboys’ high-powered offense.

But just like Crash Davis taught Nuke LaLoosh, Rush is just playing ’em one day at a time, happy to be here and hoping he can help the ballclub… even if he’ll resume headset duties before long.

“That’s the job,” Rush told reporters. “You’ve got to come in, you’ve got to play well every week. That’s how this league works at every position; week in and week out, you’ve got to show up. We were able to build some momentum last week and carry it into this week. If we just don’t hurt ourselves, stay on track making plays, I think we’ll be all right.”

But the truth is, if Rush keeps this up, he won’t be a backup forever. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted this week in a radio call-in that Rush “has got the makeup for a top quarterback.”

While his stats aren’t gaudy over the past two-plus games (514 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions), they certainly mirror his businesslike and efficient persona. Rush currently owns a passer rating of 91.8, better than the likes of Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, and Russell Wilson.

Rush has potential as a starting quarterback, to be sure. But his unflappable nature and obvious football smarts might also have him headed down an even longer NFL path.

“I think he’ll have a long career as a quarterback in this league,” Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said of Rush last week in the prep leading up to their Monday night meeting. “And then he’ll be one of those cats that becomes an offensive coordinator and a head coach by the time he’s 38 or 39.”

At 28, Rush already has the press-conference clichés down cold.

But he will need to remember to show up for his postgame interviews.

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Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire