It wasn’t how the 23-year-old rookie imagined he’d start his NFL career. In a rivalry game, on the road, down by 19 points with 21 minutes to play, with no advance notice, Ben DiNucci got the call to start throwing as medical personnel were still tending to fallen quarterback Andy Dalton.
“Very unfortunate that that had to happen for me to get in the game,” DiNucci told reporters afterward, “but no time for get nervous or any of that. [I] Put my helmet on, started warming up. My job, if I’m in there, is to do the same thing as Andy or Dak or whoever else is in there. So, no time to waste. Just have to try to pick up where they left off.”
The seventh-round draft pick got off to a rocky start when he and running back Ezekiel Elliott missed their connection on a lateral on first down. Elliott recovered the loose ball, and on second down, DiNucci delivered a 32-yard strike to wide receiver Amari Cooper for his first attempt and completion as a pro.
“First one was a bad pitch by me,” DiNucci recounted. “Ball’s a little wet; I’m not going to stand up here and make excuses. But yeah, first pitch was a little bad. The one I hit to Coop there on the sideline, they were playing Cover-2. Just kind of hit a hole shot in there to him. Heck of a play by him, got us started with a big gain. Big momentum for us; unfortunate that we weren’t able to put points on the board the rest of the day.”
DiNucci ended his debut going just 2-for-3 and tallying 39 passing yards as the Cowboys were unable to get anything started against Washington in a brutal 25-3 loss. In fact, the rookie took more sacks- three- than he had completions, thanks to the porous play of the Cowboys’ makeshift offensive line.
A far cry from where DiNucci was this time last year. Exactly 365 days prior to his first Cowboys action, DiNucci was leading the James Madison Dukes to a convincing win over 4-4 Towson.
“If you would have told me a year ago that this is where I was going to be in a year, I think I would say, ‘No way.” You’d have to pinch me. But here we are. It’s 2020. No one really knows what to expect the next day, let alone a week down the road. So here we are.”
And that’s how DiNucci found himself staring down the barrel of an oncoming Chase Young train on his very first snap. Welcome to the league, rookie.
“I think the biggest thing is, guys are just bigger than what I’m used to,” DiNucci explained. “Coming from James Madison- FCS school- you don’t see guys like Chase Young every day. But the bottom line is, football is football. It’s the same game that I’ve been playing since I’ve been in seventh grade. I couldn’t do anything else except go out there with a smile. I got in the huddle and said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s have some fun. We’ve got nothing to lose. It’s raining, there’s no one in the stands. Let’s try to create our own energy here and try to find some positives from this day and go put points on the board.’”
The offense wasn’t able to make that happen on Sunday, but DiNucci may get his next chance sooner than expected. With Andy Dalton undergoing concussion protocol and very much uncertain for the team’s Week 8 showdown with Philadelphia, DiNucci may get his first start Sunday during primetime at Lincoln Financial Field.
That’s how he’s going to prepare, at least.
“Haven’t really thought that far down the road yet,” DiNucci said after the game. “But if that’s how this thing is going to go- I’m not sure how all the protocols work and stuff of that nature- but if my number’s called, shoot, I’ll be the first one in the building tomorrow and the last one to leave. I’ve got to prepare like I have been for the last two months. Nothing changes. I’ve learned more from sitting in a room with Dak and Andy the last two months than I have playing the last eight years.”
DiNucci was able to give media members an unofficial status report on Dalton shortly after Sunday’s game went final.
“He was in the locker room. I think he’s all right. He doesn’t really remember what happened [on the hit by Washington linebacker Jon Bostic]… But he’s in good spirits.”
Tony Romo got next to no notice before replacing Drew Bledsoe in a 2006 game. Dak Prescott ascended to the starting job only after injuries sidelined Romo and Kellen Moore. Andy Dalton found himself warming up in a hurry just two weeks ago when Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
DiNucci could well become the latest Cowboys backup quarterback to be thrown into the proverbial fire. And the rookie looks to be the next to uphold the tradition of seizing the moment.
“This team drafted me for a reason, and Coach McCarthy brought me here for a reason. So if my number’s called in the future, I’m going to make sure that I do everything I can to keep this show on the road and make sure that other guys in the locker room have got as much faith in me as No. 4 and No. 14.”
—COWBOYSWIRE