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FRISCO, Texas -- Jason Garrett spent much of Wednesday covering for receiver Dez Bryant, who doesn't need coddling.
The coach spent the entire offseason preaching the importance of personal accountability and accountability to the team, but that didn't seem to apply to Bryant on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Bryant suffered a hairline fracture of his tibial plateau in his right leg, near the knee, and he could be out up to three weeks. He was injured on the second play against the Chicago Bears. He missed six plays and finished with three catches for 40 yards and a 17-yard touchdown in the Dallas Cowboys' 31-17 win.
After the game, owner Jerry Jones said Bryant would get an MRI on Monday, the players' day off. But Bryant missed Monday's treatment for injured players and Tuesday's meetings, sources told ESPN.
Bryant has been fined, according to the Dallas Morning News. The fine for an unexcused missed activity is $12,050, according to the league's collective bargaining agreement. The Cowboys also could've fined him $12,050 for failure to follow rehabilitation program prescribed by a club physician.
Whatever the amount, do you really think that money matters to a dude who owns a Bentley truck and is eyeing a Lamborghini? Bryant is making $9 million this season -- $562,500 per game before taxes.
Bryant's behavior, based on what we know, is disappointing since he's one of the team's leaders. Garrett's behavior is worse, considering his focus on accountability this season.
Garrett has told the story of 17 inches numerous times this offseason. It’s the story from former Cal Poly-Pomona baseball coach John Scolinos, who won three Division II national championships in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Here’s the gist of his popular 1996 speech: Home plate is 17 inches wide in Little League, high school, college and the big leagues. The size of the plate never changes. No matter what level of baseball you're playing, every pitcher must achieve the standard and throw the ball across the plate.
Those who can do it, succeed; those who don't, fail. The standard is the standard.
"That story has been an important story for us," Garrett said during training camp. "It illustrates something we think is so important: accountability. Seventeen inches is about accountability. Accountability to yourself, to your teammates, to the standards we set for our football team."
Bryant is a 28-year-old man with three children and a $72 million contract. He doesn't need anyone making excuses for him, but that's exactly what Garrett did.
Twice.
It’s disappointing for a guy who spends so much time talking about how proud he is of the culture he's established with the Cowboys. If there's a good explanation, share it. If there's not, chastise the behavior and move on because there's no need to turn a one-day story into a two-day story.
Here's how Garrett handled several questions about why it was taking so long to get the results of Bryant's MRI exam.
What's been the delay?
"I don't want to get into the details of all of that," he said. "We're going to evaluate Dez's knee just like we would anybody else's injury and he's not going to practice today."
Was the MRI taken this morning?
"Again, I'm not going to get into the details of what we do with all of our injured players. We're evaluating his knee. He's not going to practice today, and we'll take his situation day by day."
After receiving the MRI results, Garrett held an impromptu news conference. Was there a reason it took so long to come to this conclusion?
"No, not necessarily," Garrett said.
Why did it take two days to get the MRI?
"Yeah, I don't want to get into the whole medical procedure. We have this information now with Dez and we're going to take his situation day by day and we'll evaluate his situation as the week goes on."
Did he avoid taking the MRI to avoid knowing what it might possibly be?
"Again, I'm not going to get into the evaluation of all that. We have the information now and we'll take his situation day by day."
Why cover for him? The owner knew. Team vice president Stephen Jones knew. The assistant coaches knew. So did his teammates. It's not like Garrett would've been revealing a secret.
Maybe, he just didn't want us to know he didn't have control of the situation, or of Bryant. Perhaps Garrett didn't want to deal with the fallout from publicly criticizing Bryant, whose contract makes him impossible to cut.
This says more about Garrett than Bryant.
Remember, Garrett is the same guy who stood next to former defensive end Greg Hardy during his meltdown in New York in October 2015. Hardy berated special-teams coach Rich Bisaccia and swiped at former receiver Devin Street, but after the game Garrett told us Hardy was encouraging his teammates.
A day later, Garrett said he spoke to Hardy about the player channeling his emotions better.
Whatever.
It's a lot easier to cut irrelevant players such as Christine Michael and Corey White like he did last season because they didn't wear suits on a road trip than to deal with high-salaried players such as Hardy and Bryant.
Garrett loves to talk about the culture he's created with the Cowboys, and his roster full of the right type of guys; guys who play with a passion and intensity that's hard to find. Even the most conscientious kids must occasionally be disciplined.
Every action has a consequence. Some are positive; others are negative.
For Bryant, there was no real consequence for his behavior other than exposing Garrett as a gifted orator whose messages occasionally carry little substance.
The coach spent the entire offseason preaching the importance of personal accountability and accountability to the team, but that didn't seem to apply to Bryant on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Bryant suffered a hairline fracture of his tibial plateau in his right leg, near the knee, and he could be out up to three weeks. He was injured on the second play against the Chicago Bears. He missed six plays and finished with three catches for 40 yards and a 17-yard touchdown in the Dallas Cowboys' 31-17 win.
After the game, owner Jerry Jones said Bryant would get an MRI on Monday, the players' day off. But Bryant missed Monday's treatment for injured players and Tuesday's meetings, sources told ESPN.
Bryant has been fined, according to the Dallas Morning News. The fine for an unexcused missed activity is $12,050, according to the league's collective bargaining agreement. The Cowboys also could've fined him $12,050 for failure to follow rehabilitation program prescribed by a club physician.
Whatever the amount, do you really think that money matters to a dude who owns a Bentley truck and is eyeing a Lamborghini? Bryant is making $9 million this season -- $562,500 per game before taxes.
Bryant's behavior, based on what we know, is disappointing since he's one of the team's leaders. Garrett's behavior is worse, considering his focus on accountability this season.
Garrett has told the story of 17 inches numerous times this offseason. It’s the story from former Cal Poly-Pomona baseball coach John Scolinos, who won three Division II national championships in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Here’s the gist of his popular 1996 speech: Home plate is 17 inches wide in Little League, high school, college and the big leagues. The size of the plate never changes. No matter what level of baseball you're playing, every pitcher must achieve the standard and throw the ball across the plate.
Those who can do it, succeed; those who don't, fail. The standard is the standard.
"That story has been an important story for us," Garrett said during training camp. "It illustrates something we think is so important: accountability. Seventeen inches is about accountability. Accountability to yourself, to your teammates, to the standards we set for our football team."
Bryant is a 28-year-old man with three children and a $72 million contract. He doesn't need anyone making excuses for him, but that's exactly what Garrett did.
Twice.
It’s disappointing for a guy who spends so much time talking about how proud he is of the culture he's established with the Cowboys. If there's a good explanation, share it. If there's not, chastise the behavior and move on because there's no need to turn a one-day story into a two-day story.
Here's how Garrett handled several questions about why it was taking so long to get the results of Bryant's MRI exam.
What's been the delay?
"I don't want to get into the details of all of that," he said. "We're going to evaluate Dez's knee just like we would anybody else's injury and he's not going to practice today."
Was the MRI taken this morning?
"Again, I'm not going to get into the details of what we do with all of our injured players. We're evaluating his knee. He's not going to practice today, and we'll take his situation day by day."
After receiving the MRI results, Garrett held an impromptu news conference. Was there a reason it took so long to come to this conclusion?
"No, not necessarily," Garrett said.
Why did it take two days to get the MRI?
"Yeah, I don't want to get into the whole medical procedure. We have this information now with Dez and we're going to take his situation day by day and we'll evaluate his situation as the week goes on."
Did he avoid taking the MRI to avoid knowing what it might possibly be?
"Again, I'm not going to get into the evaluation of all that. We have the information now and we'll take his situation day by day."
Why cover for him? The owner knew. Team vice president Stephen Jones knew. The assistant coaches knew. So did his teammates. It's not like Garrett would've been revealing a secret.
Maybe, he just didn't want us to know he didn't have control of the situation, or of Bryant. Perhaps Garrett didn't want to deal with the fallout from publicly criticizing Bryant, whose contract makes him impossible to cut.
This says more about Garrett than Bryant.
Remember, Garrett is the same guy who stood next to former defensive end Greg Hardy during his meltdown in New York in October 2015. Hardy berated special-teams coach Rich Bisaccia and swiped at former receiver Devin Street, but after the game Garrett told us Hardy was encouraging his teammates.
A day later, Garrett said he spoke to Hardy about the player channeling his emotions better.
Whatever.
It's a lot easier to cut irrelevant players such as Christine Michael and Corey White like he did last season because they didn't wear suits on a road trip than to deal with high-salaried players such as Hardy and Bryant.
Garrett loves to talk about the culture he's created with the Cowboys, and his roster full of the right type of guys; guys who play with a passion and intensity that's hard to find. Even the most conscientious kids must occasionally be disciplined.
Every action has a consequence. Some are positive; others are negative.
For Bryant, there was no real consequence for his behavior other than exposing Garrett as a gifted orator whose messages occasionally carry little substance.
