Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Patrick Crayton is no longer a starter, and that’s no surprise: Miles Austin earned his spot in the starting lineup ahead of Crayton by setting a franchise record with 250 receiving yards in a win over the Chiefs.
But what is surprising is that Crayton says the Cowboys’ coaches never bothered to tell him that Austin had taken his starting job.
Crayton told reporters he would have appreciated it if either head coach Wade Phillips or offensive coordinator Jason Garrett had looked him in the eye and told him he was demoted, rather than Crayton just figuring it out because Austin was getting more of the first-team reps in practice.
“I would have loved it,” Crayton said of hearing he had been demoted directly from a coach, per Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “It would have been real stand-up. That’s not what happened. Oh, well.”
Phillips, however, claims that the coaches did sit Crayton down and explain that Austin had moved ahead of him on the depth chart.
“We discussed it with him,” Phillips said. “I have no doubt about that.”
Despite the failure to communicate between Phillips and Crayton, Crayton says he’ll be a team player, adding that his job is “to help in whatever way possible.”