Word broke on Wednesday night that the Cowboys fined wide receiver Dez Bryant for missing an MRI on his injured knee and team meetings earlier this week and coach Jason Garrett confirmed that report on Thursday.
Garrett said that Bryant missed the MRI on Monday and meetings the next two days, leading to the decision to penalize him for not being where he was supposed to be. Garrett cited Bryant’s thought the results of the MRI would be worse than the hairline fracture that was ultimately diagnosed as the reason for the missed test.
“He’s a very, very passionate person,” Garrett said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “He’s an emotional person. He didn’t handle it the right way. I’m not excusing his behavior. There are repercussions for your actions.”
While Bryant was wrong to take the no news is good news approach to finding out what was going on with his knee, the better-case scenario doesn’t mean he’ll be able to face the 49ers this weekend.
A report indicates Bryant could miss up to three weeks as a result of the injury, although Garrett would only say that the team doesn’t expect him to practice on Thursday and that he’s “moving better and better.”