Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant had the 11th fumble of his four-year career on Sunday against the Giants, and Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones says he’d like to see Bryant work on the fundamentals of holding the football properly.
Jones said on 105.3 The Fan that he likes the physical way Bryant takes on tacklers, but he wants to see Bryant hold the ball closer to his body when he’s breaking a tackle.
“He’s violent when he’s got the ball,” Jones said. “He’s violent going after the ball. Consequently, he does need to have that ball in closer. He needs to fundamentally have it closer to his body.”
At the same time, Jones said he’ll gladly take all the good Bryant gives the Cowboys, even if it comes with the fumbles. And Jones isn’t so sure that any amount of coaching is going to change the fact that Bryant finds himself in some hard collisions.
“A lot of this is a natural, physical way he plays football, and you’re not going to coach it out of him,” Jones said.
Some players can be coached out of fumbling -- Tom Coughlin famously worked with Tiki Barber on ball security -- and so it makes sense for the Cowboys to try with Bryant. Even if Jones is willing to accept the fact that some of the hits Bryant takes are bound to jar the ball loose.