The Dallas Cowboys closed their California stretch of camp with a 34-13 preseason win at Arizona and an open question at backup quarterback heading into Friday's finale at AT&T Stadium.
Joe Milton got the start Saturday at State Farm Stadium after Sam Howell started the opener, and he produced three first-half touchdowns, according to DallasCowboys.com and the ESPN box score. Milton went 9 of 13 for 179 yards, two touchdowns and a 151.4 rating with no interceptions, then scored on a short quarterback draw as Dallas moved to 2-0 in the preseason.
Most starters sat for both clubs.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer refused to crown a No. 2 behind Dak Prescott. "This is long from over," he told the Associated Press. "You've got to give Joe his credit, he's played really well the past two games, but we have a lot of confidence in Sam as well."
The Dallas Morning News reported that Schottenheimer believes the fight will go down to the last preseason game and that the club appears likely to keep both quarterbacks.
Milton's half, Howell's half
Milton's night was built on explosives and one short-field score. Shavon Revel intercepted Gardner Minshew and returned it 22 yards to the Arizona 12, ESPN showed. Milton escaped left and hit Malik Davis for an 8-yard touchdown.
He later connected with Jonathan Mingo for a 53-yard score and floated a pass to Camden Brown for a 70-yard gain to the 1 before scoring himself. Brandon Aubrey's 50-yard field goal made it 24-6 at halftime.
Howell entered after the break and completed 7 of 10 passes for 65 yards. He also threw an interception in the end zone, per ESPN, finishing with a 47.9 rating. Phil Mafah's 15-yard run supplied the final Cowboys touchdown.
Jaydon Blue rushed 15 times for 75 yards. Brown had two receptions for 77 yards; Mingo had two for 62 and a touchdown. Dallas piled up 413 total yards and 175 rushing.
Schottenheimer praised Milton's touch and velocity control in comments carried by the AP and Cowboys.com, pointing to the deep ball to Mingo and the scramble throw to Brown. Milton told the team site his comfort level was "amazing" compared with last season, when he said he knew only about 75 to 85 percent of the offense after a midyear arrival from New England.
Through two preseason halves, the club listed him at 286 passing yards and four total touchdowns.
