IRVING, Texas — Dez Bryant says he left the field with time remaining in Dallas’ crushing loss to the Packers because he “couldn’t watch Green Bay kneel that ball down” and that he cried when he got to the locker room.
He told reporters during a hospital visit Monday that he doesn’t think about media attention in such moments. The Cowboys blew a 26-3 halftime lead and lost 37-36 Sunday after Tony Romo threw an interception with a chance to run out most of the clock following a first-down throw to Bryant with a 36-31 lead.
“I was wrong, but I wasn’t looking at it in that kind of way. It didn’t have anything to do with my teammates,” Bryant said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “I just couldn’t watch Green Bay kneel it down after a loss like that.
“Very emotional. I cried when I got into the locker room, and I didn’t want to show that obviously on the sideline.”
Bryant, who made similar headlines earlier in the season with a sideline rant during another deflating defeat at Detroit, was waiting for reporters after practice so he could tell them that leaving with time still on the clock “was absolutely not right.”
That was essentially the message in his conversation with coach Jason Garrett, who said his star receiver wasn’t disciplined.
“It’s difficult for everybody when things don’t go well and he needs to understand how to handle that,” Garrett said. “I think he’ll handle that better in the future. He was very apologetic to me and was concerned about the situation.”