By Rick Gosselin , Staff Columnist Contact Rick Gosselin on Twitter: @RickGosselinDMN
Jason Garrett says Dez Bryant's decision to go AWOL and skip out on the Cowboys for the better part of three days at the start of this week was "well-intended."
"Intended"? Certainly.
"Well-intended"? Certainly not.
Garrett says Bryant's decision not to show up for injury treatment and an MRI on Monday and team meetings Tuesday and Wednesday was because of his passion.
"He's a very passionate person," Garrett said. "He loves football. He loves this team. He's a driven guy. His response to this was not the right one. But it was an understandable response given his personality and everything he puts into this. He's an emotional person."
Not showing up for work is "understandable"? Not in the adult world.
I have passion for my writing. If I went AWOL from The Dallas Morning News for three days, disappearing and going incommunicado, I doubt my bosses would talk about my passion. They'd talk about my irresponsibility.
Irresponsibility is the reason Bryant is a Cowboy. Concern over his irresponsibility as a person is why a player with top-10 talent slid all the way to the Cowboys at 24 in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. Twenty-three other teams couldn't, wouldn't and didn't trust Bryant enough to draft him.
The Cowboys identified his value to the team as a Pro Bowl pass catcher in 2015 with a five-year, $70 million contract. For that money, the Cowboys expect Bryant to show up for work -- something he didn't do on Monday, Tuesday and the better part of Wednesday.
If the Cowboys lose to the 49ers on Sunday, and the offensive linemen decide not to report for the team meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, would Garrett let them off the hook because of their passion? If the defensive line fails for another week to sack a quarterback and its members decide to skip out on the team meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, would Garrett let them off the hook because of their passion?
Bryant showed he can be a team player on the field Sunday night when he returned to the game against the Chicago Bears after he tweaked his right knee and caught his first touchdown pass of the season. As a precautionary measure, the Cowboys scheduled him for that MRI on Monday.
Football is the ultimate team game because there are 22 starters a side. They must work in sync as units to succeed. Jerry Jones expects the 53 men on his roster to be team players -- on and off the field. That includes Bryant, not excludes him. Show up for work along with your 52 teammates. If you can't, you'd better have a good excuse.
And the excuse?
"He thought he was going to get some bad news when he got the MRI Monday morning," Garrett said. "And like some of us do at times in life, he avoided it. He didn't come in and take care of his business. He suspected it was worse than the information we got."
The Cowboys pay Bryant handsomely to play football. Let the trainers and doctors do the thinking on injuries. Just do your job. Show up for work. Act like a responsible adult. Be a good teammate. There are a lot of folks depending on you, including a rookie quarterback.
The Cowboys didn't buy Bryant's excuse for his absence, by the way. They fined him an undisclosed amount.
I've received several emails and Twitter comments since the Garrett news conference about the double standard of the Jimmy Johnson era. Jimmy often kidded about it himself. If a player fell asleep in a team meeting, Jimmy would cut him. But if that player was Troy Aikman, Jimmy would gently nudge him to wake him up.
To earn that special treatment, though, you need to be in the building. You have to show up for work. Bryant wasn't in the building -- and he didn't bother to tell anyone that he wasn't coming to work or why he wasn't coming. He once again reminded the Cowboys why 23 NFL teams passed on him in the 2010 NFL draft.
The Cowboys don't lead the league these days in offense or defense. But they do lead the league in enabling. And Garrett was at his enabling best with Bryant on Thursday. Passion is supposed to be an asset, not an excuse.
Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis, and follow @RickGosselinDMN on Twitter.
Jason Garrett says Dez Bryant's decision to go AWOL and skip out on the Cowboys for the better part of three days at the start of this week was "well-intended."
"Intended"? Certainly.
"Well-intended"? Certainly not.
Garrett says Bryant's decision not to show up for injury treatment and an MRI on Monday and team meetings Tuesday and Wednesday was because of his passion.
"He's a very passionate person," Garrett said. "He loves football. He loves this team. He's a driven guy. His response to this was not the right one. But it was an understandable response given his personality and everything he puts into this. He's an emotional person."
Not showing up for work is "understandable"? Not in the adult world.
I have passion for my writing. If I went AWOL from The Dallas Morning News for three days, disappearing and going incommunicado, I doubt my bosses would talk about my passion. They'd talk about my irresponsibility.
Irresponsibility is the reason Bryant is a Cowboy. Concern over his irresponsibility as a person is why a player with top-10 talent slid all the way to the Cowboys at 24 in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. Twenty-three other teams couldn't, wouldn't and didn't trust Bryant enough to draft him.
The Cowboys identified his value to the team as a Pro Bowl pass catcher in 2015 with a five-year, $70 million contract. For that money, the Cowboys expect Bryant to show up for work -- something he didn't do on Monday, Tuesday and the better part of Wednesday.
If the Cowboys lose to the 49ers on Sunday, and the offensive linemen decide not to report for the team meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, would Garrett let them off the hook because of their passion? If the defensive line fails for another week to sack a quarterback and its members decide to skip out on the team meetings Tuesday and Wednesday, would Garrett let them off the hook because of their passion?
Bryant showed he can be a team player on the field Sunday night when he returned to the game against the Chicago Bears after he tweaked his right knee and caught his first touchdown pass of the season. As a precautionary measure, the Cowboys scheduled him for that MRI on Monday.
Football is the ultimate team game because there are 22 starters a side. They must work in sync as units to succeed. Jerry Jones expects the 53 men on his roster to be team players -- on and off the field. That includes Bryant, not excludes him. Show up for work along with your 52 teammates. If you can't, you'd better have a good excuse.
And the excuse?
"He thought he was going to get some bad news when he got the MRI Monday morning," Garrett said. "And like some of us do at times in life, he avoided it. He didn't come in and take care of his business. He suspected it was worse than the information we got."
The Cowboys pay Bryant handsomely to play football. Let the trainers and doctors do the thinking on injuries. Just do your job. Show up for work. Act like a responsible adult. Be a good teammate. There are a lot of folks depending on you, including a rookie quarterback.
The Cowboys didn't buy Bryant's excuse for his absence, by the way. They fined him an undisclosed amount.
I've received several emails and Twitter comments since the Garrett news conference about the double standard of the Jimmy Johnson era. Jimmy often kidded about it himself. If a player fell asleep in a team meeting, Jimmy would cut him. But if that player was Troy Aikman, Jimmy would gently nudge him to wake him up.
To earn that special treatment, though, you need to be in the building. You have to show up for work. Bryant wasn't in the building -- and he didn't bother to tell anyone that he wasn't coming to work or why he wasn't coming. He once again reminded the Cowboys why 23 NFL teams passed on him in the 2010 NFL draft.
The Cowboys don't lead the league these days in offense or defense. But they do lead the league in enabling. And Garrett was at his enabling best with Bryant on Thursday. Passion is supposed to be an asset, not an excuse.
Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis, and follow @RickGosselinDMN on Twitter.
Everyone...? I certainly never thought this.