IRVING, Texas --With Miles Austin possibly out through Thanksgiving with a right hamstring injury, Dez Bryant once again becomes the clear No. 1 option at wide receiver.
Does that mean the Cowboys will once again pull him off punt returns?
"We'll cross that bridge as we go," head coach Jason Garrett said Monday. "One thing we've talked about here is that we want to have different guys that are able to do that.
"Dez has worked back there, Terence Newman has worked back there, Kevin Ogletree has worked back there. So you want to have a couple different options back there and then we'll take into account what kind of work those guys are getting as offensive and defensive players."
Bryant's offensive role will only increase for the foreseeable future, and Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones has expressed concern before about punt returns being a risk given his injury history.
Bryant had only two punt returns in 2011 before Sunday, when he had two for a 4.0-yard average. One he unwisely fielded at the Dallas 6.
"To tell the truth, I got lost. I didn't recognize where I was on the field," Bryant told reporters. "When I caught the ball, I was like, 'Damn, I'm almost in the end zone.' I tried to make something happen, but I didn't. Just a bad play."
