When rookie receiver Dez Bryant dominated rookie defensive backs who’ll be wearing an NFL helmet this fall only if it’s part of a Halloween costume, men like owner Jerry Jones, coach Wade Phillips, and receivers coach Ray Sherman gushed.
But Bryant is now on the practice field with the ‘Boys big boys, and he’s definitely holding his own.
In a Monday appearance on the local ESPN Radio affiliate with Randy Galloway, tight end Jason Witten had great things to say about Dez.
“I was impressed
today,” Witten said regarding Bryant’s first day of OTA drills, via the Dallas Morning News. “I think, you think back to when I was a rookie, and just how
anxious you are, and excited and nervous, and all the jitters
that go into it. I don’t think we should jump the gun and judge
him off of just one day, or one week or two weeks. He’s eager to
learn. He wants to get better. He loves playing football. Those
are the traits that I think as a veteran you look for, ‘Hey, man,
we need to be able to count on this guy.’ So, he showed that
today, and I think he does have a lot of talent. But, more than
that, he wants to get better, he wants to be coached. He’s
looking forward to helping this team. I know he’s young, but it’s
going to be a good opportunity for him, and, hopefully, he can
make some plays for us. . . .
“It’s just going to make us all
better, and he does have that trait that, you know, he gets the
ball at any point on the field he can do something with it. Yeah, a
guy like that, he can really change the game. More than any of the
other stuff, he wants to be good, he wants to play, and that’s
what you want to see; not all the other crap that you hear about —
‘Does he want to play, does he want to get better?’, and he
showed that today, I thought.”
A player who had more direct exposure to Bryant, cornerback Mike Jenkins, was even more effusive in his praise of Dez. “I heard a lot of hype about him coming in, and I definitely agree with
him being the first pick,” Jenkins said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “The guy is going to be a great
receiver in this league.”
And look out Roy Williams and Miles Austin: “I think he has all the ability to be the best receiver we have,” Jenkins said.
In this regard, the video evidence is indisputable. Clips from Bryant’s first sessions show him blowing past cornerback Terence Newman, albeit failing to make the catch. (The video also shows plenty of contact and bump-and-run coverage, even though contact and bump-and-run coverage are supposed to be forbidden in offseason workouts. We used to complain about this obvious disconnect between the rules and the application of them, but a head can be banged into a wall only so many times before the person doing the banging realizes that the wall ain’t going anywhere.)
Meanwhile, Charles Barkley declared during a Tuesday appearance on NBC’s Tonight Show that Bryant is Barkley’s new favorite football player. But not because of Bryant’s abilities. Barkley likes Bryant because he showed restraint when asked by Dolphins G.M. Jeff Ireland whether Bryant’s mother is now or ever has been a prostitute.
“Where I’m from you can talk about anything in the world, but if you
say something about somebody Mama you got no choice, you got to go!”
Barkley told Jay Leno, via WFAA.com. “For him to have
the patience not to get up and beat the hell out the guy, he’s my new
favorite NFL player.”
We’ve got a feeling Bryant will be winning plenty of fans for other reasons once the games begin in September.