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Drew Pearson to Dez Bryant:
Cowboys can't concentrate on babysitting you
Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson talked on KESN-FM on Friday to discuss Dez Bryant during the Cowboys recent game against the New Orleans Saints. Here are some highlights: Cowboys can't concentrate on babysitting you
During the game against New Orleans , were the strong emotions Dez Bryant was showing a good sign for the team or was he having more of a T.O.-moment?
I think it was more the T.O.-type of emotion. I think that emotion was more individually oriented or individually based and the reason I say this is because of his actions: the way he was going and the way everybody was trying to settle him down. If you got something that you feel like you can get open on, you don't just come to the sideline and say, "Hey, throw me the ball, I can get open." That's not how it works. You got to be able to tell that quarterback or tell that coach it was a third down, they did this, it was this hash mark, that kind of thing and then maybe, they will come back to you.
But what disappointed me out of that whole scene was that when they get back on the field, I guess they were listening to him on the sideline because now they were, in the key situation, they were trying to force the ball to him and they didn't have any success in doing that. But, sometimes, we receivers react that way; we want the ball, there's no question. But you got to understand and the quarterback, the coach, everybody's got to decipher whether this is an individual rant or it's a rant that goes with the flow of the game; it's part of the game, yes, they're doing certain things to me, they're playing me this way, it's been consistent and on and on and on.
To me, from what I saw and from experience of ranting myself, that was more of an individual rant.
If a receiver is having an individual rant, wouldn't they be more disrespectful and harmful to the team? It seemed that Dez was at least still listening to his teammates like Jason Witten and being a team player.
Well, what [Jason] Witten was doing, he was trying to squash the situation. He didn't want that to become an issue. Now, you're becoming an issue on the sideline, you're distracted from the game. The game is the issue; that's what we need to deal with right now. So, don't you become an issue on the sideline. So Witten, smart enough and experienced enough, to try and squelch that and settle Dez down and that's what his receiver coach should have done. I would have taken that kid to the end of that bench and have the trainers and ball boys put towels around so you couldn't see me chew him out. I think that was all individual and we don't need that. Again, that's an issue and we're dealing with the situation on the field. We don't need an issue like this on the sideline. You got a problem? Let's deal with it after the game or something like that but we got to concentrate on winning this game. We can't concentrate on baby sitting you.
The reason that Dez fell to the Cowboys is because of character and maturity concerns. How concerned are you now about him? Is this a red flag or do you chalk it up as just one game and a very emotional game at that?
I'm not concerned at all if you nip it, nip it right now. You let him know that this is the way...this is not good if you do become this issue. At the same time, you don't want to suppress his emotion: that extra thing that he brings to the game. He thrives off it, so you don't want to squash that but you got to let him know that everything's got to be done in the flow of the game. Yes, you're going to be frustrated. That's the way receivers are; you don't get the ball all the time and you always think you're open so you're frustration is going to be there. Just nip it in the bud; you hope it doesn't fester and you use it as a lesson. If it continues to happen, now you have to look at it a little differently.
