Dez Bryant cannot get himself out of the headlines. After making waves for comparing himself to Calvin Johnson, the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver had a meltdown on the sidelines during Sunday's loss, causing teammates to downplay the drama. After what Bryant describes as "positive passion", quarterback Tony Romo is left to clean up the mess.
In the third quarter of the Cowboys, Lions game, Bryant was seen screaming on the sideline to Romo and receivers like Jason Witten as well as coach Derek Dooley. The wide receiver was so upset, head coach Jason Garret and DeMarcus Ware were forced to step in and calm him down. At that point during the game, Bryant simply had just two catches for 22 yards, while Johnson had already put up 221 yards on nine catches. Bryant offered up zero apologies for the outburst.
"My passion is always positive," Bryant said, via Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. "It's always positive. It's going to remain the same way. I'm not saying anything wrong. I'm not saying anything bad. It's all positive. That's just what it is. I'm the nicest person off the field. When I'm on the field, even when I look angry, it's still all good passion. It's all good passion. I feel like that's what we need. I'm going to remain the same way. I feel like I love this game. I love it. In order to win, you've got to be passionate about this game."
After having to defend his comments about Johnson to the media earlier in the week, the Cowboys wide receiver is not offering up any explanations for what occurred on Sundays. He told reporters that it was the media's problem, not his.
Romo shrugged off the comments. He simply said that Bryant was concerned with winning. He noted that the receiver was not concerned about his personal stats, but more worried about putting up touchdowns to win the game. Owner Jerry Jones offered the explanation that Bryant is merely passionate, nothing more.
"I'm not trying to make light of it," Jones said. "But he's a very passionate player and he competes and works and does all the things that give him the collateral to use with his teammates and with me relative to a few awkward moments on the sideline, overexpression of passion. He's bought enough slack with me."
Garrett said that Bryant's outburst was not a distraction to the team. He appreciated that the wide receiver was showing how much he wanted to be on the field and contribute. The head coach noted that Bryant's passion was actually very well received in the moment.
