Dez Bryant’s epic sideline meltdowns — plural — during the Cowboys’ inexplicable 31-30 loss Sunday to the Lions are being welcomed in Dallas instead of criticized.
Bryant was caught on tape going berserk on the bench at least twice during the second half, screaming at offensive assistant Derek Dooley and Tony Romo and then later going nose-to-nose with tight end Jason Witten and linebacker DeMarcus Ware.
Bryant was furious about rarely being targeted by Romo at the same time Lions receiving counterpart Calvin Johnson — whom Bryant had publicly compared himself to last week — was posting one of the best single-game pass-catching performances in NFL history in Detroit’s comeback win.
The sideline scenes didn’t exactly jibe with what had been billed as Bryant’s “maturation” this season, but Bryant ended up getting praised afterward by teammates, coaches and owner Jerry Jones.
Justifiably so. While the optics of Bryant’s sideline rants might have appeared shocking, Jones was right: It was about time someone on the Cowboys showed some emotion and pushback.
They certainly never get that from Romo or just about any other designated team leader, which might go a long way toward explaining why the 4-4 Cowboys appear locked in a perpetual cycle of 8-8 mediocrity.
Bryant wears the No. 88 jersey of a former Cowboys receiving great known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve during games, and that receiver, Michael Irvin, might as well have been speaking for Jones when he defended Bryant after Sunday’s loss.
“For years we talked about people on the sideline of the Dallas Cowboys having no passion, no leadership and [seeming] like they don’t care,” Irvin said on the NFL Network. “Now we get a guy with maybe a little too much passion [who] doesn’t know how to exactly display it in front of a TV audience, but now we are going to go and say, ‘Get rid of all the passion you have’? No. It is absolutely crazy [to do that].”
Even Romo would have to agree.