LONDON — The Cowboys might have found the cure for receiver Dez Bryant’s recent lack of production: London.
Bryant, who talked at length after Sunday’s game about the Cowboys’ offensive woes of late and his contract situation, was short and to the point after practice Thursday.
The all-business Bryant did say, however, he had “a little bit of extra juice” at practice.
“Actually, I was just telling some of the guys that I don’t know if it’s London or the air,” Bryant said. “I’m flying.”
Over the last two games, Bryant has been mostly grounded. He’s combined for only five catches for 45 yards — two went for touchdowns — the last two weeks against Washington and Arizona as the Cowboys’ offense sputtered.
The Cowboys haven’t been able to get Bryant going early, either. Over the last four games, he has one first-quarter catch.
“Check this out: I can only control what I can control,” Bryant said. “You watch the same tape that I watch, and I’m going to keep on doing that, and when it comes my way, I’m going to try to make the most out of it.”
Bryant hasn’t caught a pass in six of his last eight quarters of game action. And it’s not all because backup Brandon Weeden has had to spell quarterback Tony Romo because of his back injury.
On Sunday against the Cardinals, Weeden couldn’t connect with Bryant on his first eight attempts. Bryant finally caught his first pass of the game — with the Cowboys trailing by 18 points — in the final two minutes.
He’s getting plenty of chances to make plays. Bryant has been targeted 17 times the last two games.
But Bryant hasn’t helped his quarterbacks much of late. He has the Cowboys’ last four dropped passes, three over the previous two games.
“We’re just going to continue to keep working on our mistakes, get the wrinkles out and we’re going to get back together,” Bryant said. “Trust me, we’re fine. We’re fine. We are.”
The odd twist in Bryant’s reduced output of late: Opponents have started to stack the line of scrimmage more to defend the Cowboys’ top-ranked rushing offense, and they’ve often blitzed the last two weeks, but Bryant hasn’t been able to make them pay.
“I am surprised with that and, hopefully, they’re coming up with some things to alleviate some of the issues we’re having in those situations,” former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin said Thursday from London.
“And Dez has been dealing with that coverage, man. I hated it. I hated hearing people talking about it where you have that cornerback on you and they always say, ‘Well this guy is taking him off,’ but that safety is right there. You see it all the time on film.
“I used to say, ‘Man, if you leave this dude out here one-on-one, man, I will make his mom come and get him off the field.’ That’s how bad I’ll beat him. But you want to keep telling me that it’s one-on-one when it’s not one-on-one, and they’re doing that to Dez. They’re rolling, bringing that safety over and he’s creeping over the edge, so the guy up front can be very, very physical.”
Irvin, who is in London for the NFL Network, said Bryant just has to be patient.
“The time will come, and they will take care of Dez and do what they need to do,” Irvin said. “They’ll get it figured out.”
Bryant started his week in London with children singing happy birthday to him. He turned 26 on Tuesday, and he celebrated by having dinner with some teammates. Bryant said he ate a big steak.
Where?
“Uh, uh, uh, I can’t pronounce that,” Bryant said. “But it was good.”
Have some birthday cake?
“No cake,” Bryant said. “You know I can’t eat cake. I got to keep my abs right.”
Bryant is more worried about his figure than his recent downturn.
“No pressure at all, man,” Bryant said as he headed toward the team bus. “What is pressure?”
Dez’s dropoff
In five of Dez Bryant’s nine games, he hasn’t had more than four catches. Here’s a look at Bryant’s production this season:
Opponent
Rec.
Yards
TDs
Targets
San Francisco
4
55
0
6
at Tennessee
10
103
1
14
at St. Louis
6
89
1
7
New Orleans
3
44
1
6
Houston
9
85
1
14
at Seattle
4
63
0
10
NY Giants
9
151
0
12
Washington
3
30
1
7
Arizona
2
15
1
10
Bryant, who talked at length after Sunday’s game about the Cowboys’ offensive woes of late and his contract situation, was short and to the point after practice Thursday.
The all-business Bryant did say, however, he had “a little bit of extra juice” at practice.
“Actually, I was just telling some of the guys that I don’t know if it’s London or the air,” Bryant said. “I’m flying.”
Over the last two games, Bryant has been mostly grounded. He’s combined for only five catches for 45 yards — two went for touchdowns — the last two weeks against Washington and Arizona as the Cowboys’ offense sputtered.
The Cowboys haven’t been able to get Bryant going early, either. Over the last four games, he has one first-quarter catch.
“Check this out: I can only control what I can control,” Bryant said. “You watch the same tape that I watch, and I’m going to keep on doing that, and when it comes my way, I’m going to try to make the most out of it.”
Bryant hasn’t caught a pass in six of his last eight quarters of game action. And it’s not all because backup Brandon Weeden has had to spell quarterback Tony Romo because of his back injury.
On Sunday against the Cardinals, Weeden couldn’t connect with Bryant on his first eight attempts. Bryant finally caught his first pass of the game — with the Cowboys trailing by 18 points — in the final two minutes.
He’s getting plenty of chances to make plays. Bryant has been targeted 17 times the last two games.
But Bryant hasn’t helped his quarterbacks much of late. He has the Cowboys’ last four dropped passes, three over the previous two games.
“We’re just going to continue to keep working on our mistakes, get the wrinkles out and we’re going to get back together,” Bryant said. “Trust me, we’re fine. We’re fine. We are.”
The odd twist in Bryant’s reduced output of late: Opponents have started to stack the line of scrimmage more to defend the Cowboys’ top-ranked rushing offense, and they’ve often blitzed the last two weeks, but Bryant hasn’t been able to make them pay.
“I am surprised with that and, hopefully, they’re coming up with some things to alleviate some of the issues we’re having in those situations,” former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin said Thursday from London.
“And Dez has been dealing with that coverage, man. I hated it. I hated hearing people talking about it where you have that cornerback on you and they always say, ‘Well this guy is taking him off,’ but that safety is right there. You see it all the time on film.
“I used to say, ‘Man, if you leave this dude out here one-on-one, man, I will make his mom come and get him off the field.’ That’s how bad I’ll beat him. But you want to keep telling me that it’s one-on-one when it’s not one-on-one, and they’re doing that to Dez. They’re rolling, bringing that safety over and he’s creeping over the edge, so the guy up front can be very, very physical.”
Irvin, who is in London for the NFL Network, said Bryant just has to be patient.
“The time will come, and they will take care of Dez and do what they need to do,” Irvin said. “They’ll get it figured out.”
Bryant started his week in London with children singing happy birthday to him. He turned 26 on Tuesday, and he celebrated by having dinner with some teammates. Bryant said he ate a big steak.
Where?
“Uh, uh, uh, I can’t pronounce that,” Bryant said. “But it was good.”
Have some birthday cake?
“No cake,” Bryant said. “You know I can’t eat cake. I got to keep my abs right.”
Bryant is more worried about his figure than his recent downturn.
“No pressure at all, man,” Bryant said as he headed toward the team bus. “What is pressure?”
Dez’s dropoff
In five of Dez Bryant’s nine games, he hasn’t had more than four catches. Here’s a look at Bryant’s production this season:
Opponent
Rec.
Yards
TDs
Targets
San Francisco
4
55
0
6
at Tennessee
10
103
1
14
at St. Louis
6
89
1
7
New Orleans
3
44
1
6
Houston
9
85
1
14
at Seattle
4
63
0
10
NY Giants
9
151
0
12
Washington
3
30
1
7
Arizona
2
15
1
10
