AP

The Dallas Cowboys are finally realizing that which many have known for months: Kellen Moore may not be the ideal understudy to Dak Prescott at quarterback.

Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports, citing an unnamed source, that Moore “will be the subject of conversation at personnel meetings this week” after another subpar preseason performance.

Moore completed less than 50 percent of his passes (10 for 21) for 131 yards and a quarterback rating of 67.8. He also lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

Officially, the Cowboys continue to say all (or at least most) of the right things about the player who could be the wrong man both to replace Prescott if injured and to push Prescott to be as good as he can be.

“He’s a very smart player, makes good decisions,” coach Jason Garrett said, per Hill. “I thought he threw the ball to the right guy a lot. I think the biggest thing if you look at his drives is we got behind the chains a little bit, had some holding penalties and you’re looking at some tough down-and-distances. And it’s hard to overcome that. But I thoguht he handled that stuff for the most part pretty well and just kept trying to execute ball plays. He will continue to do that.”

If the Cowboys don’t look outside the organization for a backup to Prescott, they could decide to make Cooper Rush the No. 2 option.

“I’m just glad to see Rush taking advantage of his opportunities out there,” owner Jerry Jones said, via Hill. “Wouldn’t want to get ahead of ourselves in any way here. And the other thing is that we still have a lot of confidence in [Moore], his ability to be able to get in there when we would call on him with the personnel around him and get the ball in the right places. Make no mistake about it, that Rush, it just gets slow when he gets out there. That’s a compliment.”

A compliment for Rush could be an ominous sign for Moore. Ultimately, the best move for Prescott could be the addition of someone with much more experience than he has, who can help him as he continues to try to develop into a true franchise quarterback.