Cowboys to bench rookie QB Ben DiNucci after ugly first start

After his rough outing against the Eagles, the Cowboys will bench quarterback Ben DiNucci, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Instead, the Cowboys will allow Cooper Rush and Garrett Gilbert to compete for the top job in practice.

The Cowboys entered the season with one of the best starter/backup situations in the league. Then came Dak Prescott‘s injury, followed by Andy Dalton‘s concussion and COVID-19 list placement. That led the Cowboys to DiNucci, who is not quite ready for prime time.

A former undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan, Rush spent three seasons with the Cowboys, spent a bit of time with the Giants, then returned to Dallas in late October. Rush has appeared in five games for the Cowboys, exclusively in a mop-up role. Gilbert, meanwhile, has no NFL starts to his credit — his only first-string pro experience came with the Orlando Apollos, a team in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football.

Between the two, whomever emerges as the better option in practice this week will be the Cowboys’ starter against the Steelers on Sunday afternoon.