After suffering what looked like a nasty knee injury during Sunday night's game against the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was scheduled to take an MRI on Monday, but he didn't show up. Two days later, Bryant also failed to show up for practice, a treatment session, and two team meetings.
On Wednesday, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett revealed that Bryant had a hairline fracture in his right knee, and briefly spoke with the media about his two-day absence, claiming Dez avoided the MRI because he was fearful of what the MRI would show. "He's an emotional person and he didn't handle it the right way. What we have to do as a team is we have to handle it the right way," Garrett said, according to ESPN. We understand where he was coming from and then we address it, we solve it, we move on. That's how we handle things here. And that's what we've done."
The following day, Dez addressed his "poor decision" on Twitter.
On Friday, Bryant spoke with reporters about his disappearing act, acknowledging that he could've handled the situation better. Then, for some reason, he added that when his phone died, he didn't re-charge it because he "needed space."
This is Bryant's seventh year with the Cowboys, and there's a reason why he doesn't have the captain badge on his jersey. A captain is expected to lead his teammates by example, and situations like this one show why he's still not and may never be capable of taking on that role.
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