Cooper Rush earns praise from Dak Prescott after leading Cowboys to win

• NFL

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said he was planning to play against the Minnesota Vikings, and though he was unable to help his team, he was happy to see backup quarterback Cooper Rush lead the Cowboys to a 20-16 win.

"I had a plan all week, trying to progress and get myself out there," Prescott said. "We made a call at the end of having a chance to come out with win, without me playing, and be able to get healthy and not have something re-injure and linger past this week." 90 minutes before kickoff, Prescott was listed as out for the gane.

"There wasn't a moment I thought he was too high or nervous or rattled. That's Coop," Prescott said. "He's very mild tempered and always that way -- never too high or too low. It showed tonight. It allowed him to stay in there, stick to it, stick through some bad plays and come out and make some great plays to win the game that we needed in the fourth quarter."

Rush perfectly replaced Prescott

"You definitely dream about them and it's just as good as the dream," said Rush, who completed 24 of 40 passes for 325 yards with 2 touchdowns, including a 5-yard fade to Amari Cooper with 51 seconds to play.

Rush said he absolutely felt capable of being a quarterback who can lead his team to a win. "I felt like I belonged out there," Rush said. "In the huddle, breaking the huddle, getting to the line, going through your processes, it didn't feel overwhelming at all.

I haven't played a lot but being around the NFL, you're practicing against these guys every day and our defense is pretty good. ... It never felt too big in terms of the speed. I just felt in command. Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was more than glad with what he saw from Rush.

"Can he play the game a certain way or can he play the game 100%? We looked at all those things," McCarthy said. "And frankly at the end of the day, I think this is a great opportunity for us as a football team to grow and win through another adverse moment.

We didn't have our leader. We didn't have our starting quarterback out there and we went out and won a tough game in a hostile environment on the road. "So it was a great opportunity for us, and definitely feel like we made the right decision."