Miles Austin thinks Dez Bryant is a true professional

AP

The final resolution of the Class A misdemeanor family violence charge filed against Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant remains up in the air, but Miles Austin doesn’t think his teammate’s on-field focus will be affected by them.

“I feel like Dez is a true professional and with any true professional when you come to work you have to — regardless of how good or bad outside circumstances are — you got to put those things to the side and go on and work,” Austin said, via the San Antonio Express-News. “I feel like not only him but the whole group needs to have that focus when we are out there together working, and every time we practice or on the field we have to have that same level of focus.”

Professional hasn’t been a common descriptor of the Cowboys wideout as he enters his third year. Varied off-field misadventures and constant questions about his conditioning have been much more prevalent for Bryant, tempering the excitement the Cowboys might otherwise feel about his obvious talent for hurting defenses in the passing game.

Having said that, Austin’s not really making a comment about Bryant’s professionalism. He’s making a comment about what he expects of Bryant and any other Cowboys player when it comes to separating life inside the lines from life away from the team. It’s the correct point and Bryant will prove whether he’s worthy of the “true professional” label over the year to come regardless of the outcome of his legal trouble.