SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Following Sunday's win against San Francisco, Dez Bryant responded to reports that he has regularly missed Cowboys team meetings – and he didn't exactly mince words.
"It's just crazy, you know? Like I said before, I've got to be America's most hated," Bryant said. "We don't even know who's saying it. That's the crazy part about it. I get messages from my friends who are talking about 'This is crazy.' Because it is crazy – 20 to 40 meetings? Tell me when. Tell me please, just tell me."
Bryant did not suit up in Sunday's 24-17 win against San Francisco, as he's still recovering from the hairline fracture he suffered to his knee against Chicago. Despite that, he still made headlines as a result of fallout from his decision to skip an MRI and a team meeting scheduled earlier last week.
On Sunday morning, reports surfaced that Bryant had regularly missed team meetings – at least 20 and as many as 40, according to anonymous sources – as well as treatment sessions. An anonymous Cowboys player was credited with saying to ESPN's Adam Schefter that Bryant may not show up to meetings, but he is where the Cowboys look on 3rd-and-14.
Asked about that, Bryant wasn't particularly interested in giving credence to anonymous sources.
"I'm not going to lose focus on some 'He say, she say.' We don't even know who said it, to be honest," Bryant said. "Because I know exactly what we've been building in this organization – it's totally different. It's nothing like in the past."
Bryant said on Friday that he could have handled the entire situation with the MRI better. After suffering the hairline fracture a week ago, the All-Pro receiver missed the scheduled MRI as well as team meetings because he said he was worried the scan would deliver some bad news about his status.
Upon finally undergoing the MRI, the injury was much less severe than he initially believed, and the Cowboys continue to list his status as "day-to-day." Bryant declined to speculate about whether he'd be available for next week's game against Cincinnati
He did add, however, that he has admitted his mistakes and plans to move on with his recovery process.
"I owned up to mine. And that's exactly what I'm going to continue to keep on doing," he said. "And I refuse to let any of this crazy crap take me off of what we're trying to build here. If I was never injured, none of this stuff would be said."
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