You’ve undoubted heard, late in Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys training camp practice, Dez Bryant got into a spat with cornerback Tyler Patmon.
Both Bryant and Patmon are Oklahoma State alumni.
Bryant explained to reporters after practice, “It’s two great competitors going at it. We were chirping a little bit back and forth. I got a little bit overheated. … I was giving him a little bit of mouth, talking about a whole bunch of stuff to him. He was talking back to me, and it just escalated to the next play. … He wasn’t going to back down, I wasn’t going to back down. … At the end of the day, we shook hands, we hugged and we respect one another.”
Patmon added, “We’re family. It’s intense out here, it’s training camp. It’s part of it. … We love each other.”
When Bryant was asked if the two still “love each other,” he replied, “No doubt,” adding that he didn’t want anyone “weak” on the team.
“You go to war with a guy like that any day of the week.”
Tony Romo, Joseph Randle and Jeremy Mincey were involved in breaking the scuffle up.
“Dez can be a hothead sometimes,” Mincey said, “but it’s good. It’s good to have passion and play the game that way.”
NOTE: Check out the related video on the VIDEO ARCHIVES page
After the aforementioned in-practice scuffle with cornerback Tyler Patmon made national news on Sunday, Dez Bryant got back to business as usual: good old-fashioned competition.
The All-Pro receiver lined up against first-round cornerback Byron Jones in a compete drill, meaning a selected matchup by head coach Jason Garrett in front of the entire team. Jones had tight coverage and caused the incompletion, prompting Bryant to congratulate the rookie.
“I had my eyes glued to the ball,” Bryant said. “He just made an outstanding play. He ripped it out. I had to congratulate him because I sure was trying to bring it in.”
Overall the first-team offense had a solid day, with Bryant making a difficult catch on Mo Claiborne over the middle in the two-minute drill – one of Tony Romo’s six straight completions on a touchdown drive. Bryant also made a spectacular one-handed catch over Patmon.
He even took a few punt return reps rotating with Cole Beasley and Lance Dunbar, though Bryant said he’s mainly keeping his legs warm between practice periods. He’s highly unlikely to be a full-time option on special teams.
Fresh off signing a five-year, $70 million contract that validates his place as one of football’s most dynamic players, all eyes are certainly on Bryant in camp. It’s worth mentioning as a side note, that he’ll be featured in a future issue of Rolling Stone.
Bryant declined to discuss that, though. Here in early August, he’s focused on football.
“I’m not a celebrity, man,” he said. “God blessed me with a gift and I’m just trying my best to take full advantage of it each and every day and try to stay as positive as I can because I know young ones are watching me, including my own.”
Bing Rewards
Blu eCigs
NFL GAME REWIND
Instant access to Real Men Of Genius
Instant access to the TRUEblues group
THE BOYS ARE BACK 