Jason Garrett explains childish reason why Dez Bryant skipped MRI on his knee

The news that Dez Bryant suffered a hairline fracture in his knee almost felt secondary to the subsequent reports that Bryant had been fined for skipping an MRI scheduled for said knee and later missing a team meeting.

That’s the kind of bizarre behavior the Dallas Cowboys publicly have said up until this week that Bryant was beyond. And the kind of thing Bryant — who turns 28 in a month, is a father and has a $72 million deal to his name — should be past by this point.

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Yet Bryant’s reasoning for going AWOL, per Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, is downright childish.

Why, yes — burying your head in the sand will make it better.

“It was the wrong thing to do,” Garrett said.

Bryant went on Twitter Thursday morning and offered a semi-apology.

But does that mean the Cowboys have or will admonish him for it? Likely not. Excuses are the path of less resistance, apparently.

Passion and irresponsibility, in this case, must overlap. Bryant needs to grow up. And Garrett has to hold him far more accountable.

This is silly. Garrett has talked about holding players to a high standard and taking a CEO-like approach to the team (even trying to model his system after Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski), and yet in most cases there appear to be different rules for star players — or in the case of ex-Cowboy Greg Hardy, highly paid ones — than there are for fringe players who can be made an example of more easily.

Suspending players is tricky business, and with the volatile Bryant there’s always the fear of losing him. As we’ve seen, sometimes his passion is unbridled and Bryant’s emotions can go on overload. Sometimes, it’s a positive, but mostly it’s something that can’t go unchecked.

Is this the biggest deal, what Bryant did? No, but it can threaten to undermine Garrett’s authority if not dealt with properly. The Cowboys very much can be a part of the playoff race this season, despite all they’ve already been through to this point. Bryant’s health is a concern, too, but his behavior must also be very closely managed.

Bryant threatened the integrity of his own health by not getting immediate attention. He also made his coach look dumb for letting it get this far. The Cowboys can’t let this bizarre episode turn into something bigger now, regardless of how many games Bryant might miss.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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