IRVING, Tex. — Wide receiver Dez Bryant had one of the worst performances of his career in the Dallas Cowboys’ 28-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. He had one catch for nine yards on six targets. He also had two drops and one pass bounce off his hand for an interception.
Owner Jerry Jones blames his struggles on injuries and the lack of practice time dating back to the offseason when Bryant missed all of the workouts in a contract dispute.
But Jones said there is no real excuse for the woeful performance in Green Bay, especially for someone who just signed a $70 million contract extension.
“Dez is a passionate player,” Jones said. “He’s a passionate practice player. But he just hasn’t had enough (practice) to cope with what we need him to be doing right now,” Jones said. “Now, that was an aberration in my mind in Green Bay. I don’t know if it was the slick ball. I don’t know that anybody does. But whatever it was we shouldn’t expect to have that kind of result or that kind of performance from Dez.”
Jones said the missed practice time that Bryant has had during the offseason, training camp and much of the season because of injuries is a big reason why the team has no intention to shut him down over the final three games, even though the 4-9 Cowboys are all but out of playoff contention.
“Shut him down? No,” Jones said. “He’ll be a very important part of what we initiate and what we hope we’re still doing. We will go balls out with Dez.”
–Just being able to do the basic things of football have been a challenge for an injury-plagued offense that is the root of the Cowboys’ struggles in a forgettable 4-9 season that has seen them lose nine of their last 11 games.
The Cowboys have used three quarterbacks, lacked playmakers, lacked continuity and have done nothing well enough to lean on.
And while Darren McFadden has come on strong of late at running back — he ranks 11th in the league with 798 yards and averages 4.2 yards per carry — the Cowboys don’t run it well or consistently enough to make a difference on an offense that is among the worst in the NFL.
The Cowboys are 32nd in converting third-and-1, 31st in touchdowns, 30th in scoring, 30th in passing touchdowns, 29th in passing and 28th in total offense.
“Last year we could lean on the run,” Linehan said. “That affected everything we did. It was heavy run. We were successful on first down. It was like a luxury. Even if they were playing the run we were still getting yards. McFadden has fit in well. But it has been different.”
It’s been decidedly different because the Cowboys have no continuity at the top because they have to design game plans for three different quarterbacks. Brandon Weeden initially replaced an injured Tony Romo before giving way to Matt Cassel, a veteran who has no experience in the offense and no chemistry with the receivers.
It has called for long nights and a multitude of conversations between head coach Jason Garrett, Linehan and the offensive coaches.
“It’s tough offensively when you are going back and forth between certain types of play designs when you might lean from one or the other,” Linehan said. “What we have done here, each week we have had a different guy we have tried to lean toward the things that he likes. With Tony it was different. He has the most experience in this offense and the tweaks we made. The other guys in all fairness it’s not easy to come in and execute it that way. So we have to tweak it so it’s more toward their skill set.
So that’s the part that been our most challenging. It’s probably held us back some.”
Notes: Quarterback Kellen Moore has never taken a regular-season snap in the NFL. His professional playing experience spans 16 preseason games. But that didn’t stop Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan from using terms such as “cool customer” and “uncanny” to describe Moore on Wednesday even though Matt Cassel remains the starting quarterback. “He is a cool customer,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “His anticipation and timing are good. He sees things as they develop. It’s not like you have to have a guy open to pull the trigger. He sees the guy. He sees shadows of guys running routes. Because he’s got to do it from that pocket at 6-feet tall or whatever he is. He’s really got an uncanny knack back there and feel for the game. He brings a calmness to the position. He’s got ice water in his veins type of player.” … Running back Darren McFadden is on pace to reach the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second time in his career. McFadden is 202 yards shy of reaching that feat with three games left. If he gets 1,000 yards, he will earn $300,000 in incentives. “I would love to get 1,000 yards,” McFadden said. “But at the end of the day, it’s a team sport, so I like to go out there and play to win.”