IRVING, Texas — The Cowboys hear the Giants chirping, but they’re not taking the bait.
Inflammatory comments by Big Blue’s Jason Pierre-Paul and Will Hill leading up to Sunday’s NFC East showdown at MetLife Stadium are drawing mostly bemused reactions from the Cowboys, who portray themselves as being above such discourse.
“Whatever, to get them motivated,” star Dallas receiver Dez Bryant said. “All I know is, Sunday I’m going to play my game. We — us as a team — are going to come out and play our game. They can say whatever they want to say. If that’s what they believe, we’ll let them believe that.”
Bryant was reacting to Hill’s claim this week the secret to containing Bryant, the Cowboys’ big-play wideout, is to get physical with him because “he doesn’t like to be touched.”
It was a bit of a strange comment, considering the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Bryant is considered one of the most physical receivers in the league and unafraid to go after passes in traffic.
But if Bryant was offended at essentially being called soft, he wasn’t going to let Hill or the Giants know through the media.
“I’m not getting into no trash talk,” Bryant said. “I’m not going to let [anyone] bait me. I’m just going out there to play Cowboy football.”
Quarterback Tony Romo, meanwhile, was pressed repeatedly Thursday to respond to Pierre-Paul’s vow the Giants will be out for blood and “are going to put it on them, man.”
“I’m pretty sure the offense is going to get going,” Pierre-Paul said after the Giants beat the Packers last Sunday. “The defense is going to get going even more. And the special teams will contribute to it. It’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a dogfight. There’s going to be a lot of blood spilled out there.”
Romo made it clear the Cowboys have heard everything the Giants are saying leading up to this NFC East rematch, but are going to file it away instead of fire back.
“[The Giants are] a good football team that’s playing really good right now,” Romo said. “They’re obviously going to be ready to go, considering we hear about all the stuff they’re saying this week. It’ll be a great test, and we’ll be ready to go.
“We’re just going to put our head down and go to work,” he added, “and let everybody else out there talk.”