By David Moore , Staff Writer Contact David Moore on Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN
If Jason Garrett's game plan for San Francisco doesn't go better than his news conference to address Dez Bryant, the Cowboys will lose.
And lose big.
Garrett's daily media briefings can be robotic and non-responsive. He purposely sheds as little light on his team and his thinking as possible. That's fine. But how he handled Bryant's absence earlier this week was his worst public showing since he took over as head coach nearly six years ago.
Garrett said he wasn't there to excuse Bryant's behavior then took great pains to do just that in virtually every response. He called Bryant's actions well-intended, a preposterous leap in logic that will come back to bite the head coach in future dealings with Bryant or other players. He went to the organization's safe word in discussing Bryant and his actions -- passion -- to avoid more pointed criticism.
What took place earlier this week had nothing to do with passion. Garrett along with everyone else knows it. This was a profound lapse of judgment. It was unprofessional and created an issue where none should have existed.
It also goes against one of Garrett's core principles, the need for every player to be accountable to himself and his teammates. This is why Garrett tied himself into a semantical knot as the news conference unfolded.
There's no way Garrett believes everything he said Thursday. But he weighed the options and considered it was better to come across as a hypocrite or a Dez apologist than it was to risk losing his ability to reach the Pro Bowl receiver. Garrett doesn't care if he comes across as weak to the fans as long as he's not perceived as weak behind the scenes.
Call it an occupational hazard.
The public objective of that ill-fated news conference was to protect Bryant as much as possible and still project that Garrett was in charge. The head coach failed at both. If this comes across as too harsh, well, there's only one thing to say:
It's well-intended.
If Jason Garrett's game plan for San Francisco doesn't go better than his news conference to address Dez Bryant, the Cowboys will lose.
And lose big.
Garrett's daily media briefings can be robotic and non-responsive. He purposely sheds as little light on his team and his thinking as possible. That's fine. But how he handled Bryant's absence earlier this week was his worst public showing since he took over as head coach nearly six years ago.
Garrett said he wasn't there to excuse Bryant's behavior then took great pains to do just that in virtually every response. He called Bryant's actions well-intended, a preposterous leap in logic that will come back to bite the head coach in future dealings with Bryant or other players. He went to the organization's safe word in discussing Bryant and his actions -- passion -- to avoid more pointed criticism.
What took place earlier this week had nothing to do with passion. Garrett along with everyone else knows it. This was a profound lapse of judgment. It was unprofessional and created an issue where none should have existed.
It also goes against one of Garrett's core principles, the need for every player to be accountable to himself and his teammates. This is why Garrett tied himself into a semantical knot as the news conference unfolded.
There's no way Garrett believes everything he said Thursday. But he weighed the options and considered it was better to come across as a hypocrite or a Dez apologist than it was to risk losing his ability to reach the Pro Bowl receiver. Garrett doesn't care if he comes across as weak to the fans as long as he's not perceived as weak behind the scenes.
Call it an occupational hazard.
The public objective of that ill-fated news conference was to protect Bryant as much as possible and still project that Garrett was in charge. The head coach failed at both. If this comes across as too harsh, well, there's only one thing to say:
It's well-intended.
