Dez caught it. Then he threw up the X.
For at least a play on Sunday, what was old was new again as Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant caught his first touchdown since 2017. Quarterback Lamar Jackson found Bryant in the end zone for a 11-yard score late in the second quarter of Baltimore’s 40-14 victory over Jacksonville.
“After I realized I scored, the first person I thought of was my baby girl,” Bryant said postgame. “I had no intentions of playing ball. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I’d be out here. So that’s why I’ve got this football right here. This is the one I scored with and I’m gonna give that to my baby girl because she’s the reason I’m out here.”
Bryant added the love he felt when he got back to the Ravens sideline nearly overwhelmed him.
“I’m being honest, I had to hold back my tears because it was very emotional,” Bryant said. “These guys here, they are 100. They are amazing, phenomenal people.”
Jackson said postgame he was glad to get Bryant back in the end zone.
“Man, we were throwing up the X. We wanted to do that against Dallas, me and Marquise [Brown] were talking about that, and it just happened today,” Jackson said. “I’m happy he was the one throwing it up before we did. Like you said, three years, that’s incredible he came back, got open on a broken-down play and he did the rest. Hat’s off to him.”
The touchdown was Bryant’s only catch on Sunday. He now has five receptions for 39 yards for Baltimore this season.