Dak Prescott was impressive in the Dallas Cowboys’ narrow 31-29 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.

In his first game back from a gruesome ankle injury suffered in Week 5 of the 2020 season, he was 42-for-58 with 403 passing yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He threw his first touchdown pass since Week 4 of the 2020 season – about 340 days went by between passes.

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"You can be great and come up short, right? That's what tonight was," Prescott said, via the team’s website. "It was a great effort, but we came up short. We want to be the best, and the best is simply being better than the other guys – day in, day out, being the best in the league."

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws a pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Audette)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) throws a pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Audette) (AP Photo/Scott Audette)

The Cowboys’ trust in Prescott was shown early and often.

Prescott found CeeDee Lamb for his first touchdown pass of the season with a 22-yard completion to tie the game in the first quarter. He found Amari Cooper in the second quarter to bring the Cowboys to within one point of Tampa Bay.

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He and Cooper would hook up again in the third quarter to bring the Cowboys back to within two points.

In the fourth quarter, Dallas got the lead with 1:29 remaining in the game. However, there was just too much time remaining on the clock for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.

"It's Game 1, it's a long season. But we've got to make sure that we get better from this one and allow this to propel us," he said.

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When Prescott and Brady met at midfield, the Cowboys star made clear they would see him again.