Head coach Jason Garrett concedes the Cowboys organization and Dez Bryant didn't handle his locker room tirade the right way, called it a teaching moment and went on to say "that 100 percent of our guys do things the right way about 98 percent of the time,'' David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Garrett's comments came at his Friday morning news conference, less than 24 hours after Bryant launched into a prolonged, profane rant against the media about what he perceives to be unfair treatment. The episode calmed down only after Garrett removed the Pro Bowl receiver from the locker room so the two could talk.
"Well, to me, it's a great teaching opportunity for us as coaches and a great learning opportunity for Dez and really for our whole football team,'' Garrett said. "That's what we've tried to do is use it as an opportunity to get better.
"We didn't handle that situation the right way. Dez didn't handle that situation the right way. We have to understand the world that we live in, and we've tried to make that abundantly clear to him and to our football team.
"Again, we're going to use this as an opportunity to get better and handle those situations going forward.''
The feud didn't end in there. After speaking to Garrett, and after the media availability period was concluded in the locker room, Bryant tweeted: "Yea, I blew up on the media but repeat why I blew up on y'all. Saying I don't give (expletive) about me & calling players (N-word) not professional...''
He quickly followed up with this tweet: "If you going to tell something tell the whole thing...I'm done with the situation...I hope everyone is having a great day.''
Garrett was asked if he was bothered more by the initial behavior in the locker room or the tweets afterwards.
"Again, we just have to understand the world that we live in and we have to handle ourselves better,'' Garrett said. "We talked to Dez very directly about that, but again, we use this as an opportunity for our team to teach them.
"You've heard me say this before: It's our job as coaches to try to shape a mindset and a mentality and to shape behavior both on and off the football field, and we'll continue to do that. I believe that 100 percent of our guys do things the right way about 98 percent of the time.
"What we need to do as coaches is to make sure they understand what the expectations are for their conduct and behavior on the field, their conduct and behavior off the field and when they don't do things the right way, we're going to let them know. We're going to get them back and hold them to that standard. That's what the case was here.
Garrett's comments came at his Friday morning news conference, less than 24 hours after Bryant launched into a prolonged, profane rant against the media about what he perceives to be unfair treatment. The episode calmed down only after Garrett removed the Pro Bowl receiver from the locker room so the two could talk.
"Well, to me, it's a great teaching opportunity for us as coaches and a great learning opportunity for Dez and really for our whole football team,'' Garrett said. "That's what we've tried to do is use it as an opportunity to get better.
"We didn't handle that situation the right way. Dez didn't handle that situation the right way. We have to understand the world that we live in, and we've tried to make that abundantly clear to him and to our football team.
"Again, we're going to use this as an opportunity to get better and handle those situations going forward.''
The feud didn't end in there. After speaking to Garrett, and after the media availability period was concluded in the locker room, Bryant tweeted: "Yea, I blew up on the media but repeat why I blew up on y'all. Saying I don't give (expletive) about me & calling players (N-word) not professional...''
He quickly followed up with this tweet: "If you going to tell something tell the whole thing...I'm done with the situation...I hope everyone is having a great day.''
Garrett was asked if he was bothered more by the initial behavior in the locker room or the tweets afterwards.
"Again, we just have to understand the world that we live in and we have to handle ourselves better,'' Garrett said. "We talked to Dez very directly about that, but again, we use this as an opportunity for our team to teach them.
"You've heard me say this before: It's our job as coaches to try to shape a mindset and a mentality and to shape behavior both on and off the football field, and we'll continue to do that. I believe that 100 percent of our guys do things the right way about 98 percent of the time.
"What we need to do as coaches is to make sure they understand what the expectations are for their conduct and behavior on the field, their conduct and behavior off the field and when they don't do things the right way, we're going to let them know. We're going to get them back and hold them to that standard. That's what the case was here.
