Will he or won't he? That is the question many fans are asking about Dez Bryant as conflicting reports surface about the wide receiver's availability for Sunday's matchup against the New York Giants. The wide receiver has been out with a broken foot that required surgery. The injury is similar to what Julio Jones suffered with the Falcons which saw him missing a significant amount of time. However, Bryant has been eyeing Week 7 to get on the field, but he has yet to practice.
The Cowboys are trying to sound optimistic that Bryant will play on Sunday. With Matt Cassel starting over Brandon Weeden, getting the franchise wide receiver back on the field would be huge for the quarterback. However, it is not clear whether or not it will happen. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Bryant has not practice yet with the team. He has done conditioning, but has yet to actually get on the field and run plays. Rapoport writes that he is still having trouble cutting in his routes which makes him unlikely for Week 7.
Team owner Jerry Jones has other ideas. He is sounding very optimistic that the Cowboys can get Bryant back this week in time for a critical division game. Head coach Jason Garrett sounded slightly less positive confirming that Bryant has not been on the field yet.
"We don't put these things down like the Magna Carta and say, 'These are all the different standards that we have for Dez. This is what his standard is for this day and for this day and for this day'," Garrett said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "We have an objective. We want to get him back on the football field as quickly as we can. We have different processes we'll go through to help get him there. Then, day by day we'll evaluate it and see if he's able to do what we've asked him to do, see if he's capable of doing more, see if we should dial it back, and we make our best decision as we go. We're not going to make any determination today about whether or not Dez Bryant is going to play in this game."
For now it appears that Cassel will have to make do with Jason Witten, Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley as his main receiving threats. Players like Joseph Randle will be critical on passing downs while Christine Michael is looking poised to get the start at running back. ESPN.com reports that the Cowboys have not been happy with Randle's ball security issues and will give Michael a try as the team believes he can be a real playmaker moving forward.
