FRISCO, Texas – Head coach Jason Garrett confirmed Dez Bryant missed a scheduled MRI and treatment on his injured right knee Monday and a team meeting Tuesday because the veteran receiver "suspected that it was a serious injury" and was reluctant to face potential bad news.
Bryant also did not attend a team meeting Wednesday while undergoing the MRI, which revealed better news than he feared: a hairline fracture in his right knee that Garrett has called a "day-by-day, week-to-week injury."
"After the game on Sunday night he got some information about his knee and he suspected that it was a serious injury," Garrett said. "He's a very passionate guy, like we've talked about, and he really thought he was going to get some bad news when he got the MRI Monday morning. So like some of us do in life, at times, he avoided it. He didn't come in and take care of his business on Monday or Tuesday and then he came in on Wednesday and took care of that part of it.
"We got the information and he suspected it was worse than the information that we got. We all were pleased with what the results of the MRI were once we got them. Again, it was described to me as a day-by-day, week-by-week situation with him. But he was not here on Monday, he was not here on Tuesday and he wasn't in the team meeting on Wednesday and it all stemmed from I think, his desire not to confront the situation that he thought he had."
Bryant has not been ruled out of Sunday's game at San Francisco, but he didn't practice Wednesday and isn't expected to practice Thursday, Garrett said. The team is hopeful he could do some on-field work on Friday.
Bryant, widely known as a fierce competitor, missed five games last year with a broken foot and was bothered by foot and ankle injuries most of the season that ultimately landed him on injured reserve for the final two games. He had foot and ankle surgery in January and returned to full practice participation in training camp after a diligent offseason rehab with the athletic training staff.
Bryant suffered the knee injury on the second play from scrimmage in last Sunday's 31-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. He missed six plays and returned to play most of the remaining offensive snaps, including a 17-yard touchdown catch with 9:02 remaining in the fourth quarter.
"I'm not going to share too much of what I talked to Dez about over the last couple of days, but Dez understands he has a responsibility to be here," Garrett said. "He was completely well intended. He's a very, very passionate person. He loves football. He loves this team. He's a driven guy and his response to this was not the right one. It was an understandable response given his personality and everything he puts into this. 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. We understand where he was coming from and then we address it, we solve it, we move on."
