The Dallas Cowboys lost much more than a season opener Sunday, as ESPN's Todd Archer reported quarterback Dak Prescott is expected to miss six to eight weeks with a right thumb injury he suffered during the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"We'll look at those things," head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Monday when discussing potentially bringing in another quarterback. "We definitely anticipate making some roster moves, maybe by tomorrow."

He also said he has a list of every signal-caller who is purportedly available in the NFL.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on Monday's SportsCenter he believes Dallas will "explore" outside options. He listed San Francisco 49ers backup Jimmy Garoppolo and Pittsburgh Steelers backup Mason Rudolph as potential options.

For now, the Cowboys have Cooper Rush as their internal option.

While Rush did win his only start last season in a game against the Minnesota Vikings, he has attempted just 63 career passes with 13 of them coming in Sunday's game after the result was all but decided.

He isn't exactly an inspiring choice for a team that could still have playoff aspirations with playmakers such as Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb and Ezekiel Elliott on the roster.

Dallas is accustomed to playing without Prescott in the recent past considering a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle limited him to just five games in 2020. Yet it went just 4-7 without him and missed the playoffs in its worst finish since the 2015 campaign.

Garoppolo is the type of game manager who predicates his approach on getting the ball into the hands of the talented options around him. He is 33-14 as a starter in his career and is surely on the Cowboys' radar considering he is currently backing up Trey Lance for the 49ers.

Rudolph is less accomplished than Garoppolo but went 5-3 as a starter filling in for Ben Roethlisberger in 2019 and could help keep the team afloat until Prescott is ready to return.

A decision will have to be made fast, though, because the NFC East team faces three division teams and the two squads that were in last season's Super Bowl, the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, in the next five games.

How Dallas performs in that stretch without Prescott will go a long way toward determining how its season will unfold.