Jerry Jones doubles down on advanced timeframe for Dez Bryant’s return 
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones’ originally projected 4-6 weeks for Dez Bryant’s return from a broken right foot suffered in Week 1 against the New York Giants. That projection soon doubled when it was revealed Bryant’s surgery required a bone graft in his foot.
In recent weeks, though, as Dallas has dropped three straight games following an injury to quarterback Tony Romo, Jones has doubled down on his original projection. But Cowboys fans should hope an early return isn’t a decision made out of desperation and doesn’t come at the expense of Bryant’s future.
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Here’s what Jones had to say on 105.3 The Fan’s Shan and RJ show, via The Dallas Morning News, about whether Bryant needs to be 100 percent before returning this Sunday against — of all teams — the Giants:
“It will be satisfactory. I don’t know what 100 percent really means in this particular case, 100 percent healed? One-hundred percent from the standpoint of no sensation, no sensitivity? I don’t think you would have no sensitivity, but I do think that the combination of all the work he’s done, which has been extraordinary, as well as some of the additional procedures that were done, give us a lot of confidence that if he’s comfortable putting it down and driving off his foot, then we’re comfortable with him playing.”
The procedure Jones refers to was an injection Bryant received in the days before Dallas’ Week 5 loss to the Patriots. As Jones described to reporters after his Cowboys dropped to 2-3 before the bye week, the treatment was done in hopes of boosting Bryant’s initial procedure and speeding the recovery process.
“It could easily speed it up, but if not, what you’re always going to be worried about — whether it’s him, Romo or [Randy] Gregory — is whether if you wait another week, maybe you have a less chance of reinjuring or basically rushing it. That will give us more peace of mind on rushing it.”
Even considering “rushing it” or waiting “another week” — which might also be rushing an injury that required 4-6 months of recovery time for then-reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant after three surgeries throughout the 2014-15 season — is a risky proposition, especially for a player who turns 27 in two weeks and just signed a five-year, $70 million contract with $45 million guaranteed. And even more especially, as the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport points out, when Bryant hasn’t even practiced yet.
We should note Jones left the ultimate decision up to Bryant on whether to play or “wait a week,” and surely the two of them are working in coordination with team doctors and trainers to make the call. At best, though, Jones is publicly pushing for Bryant’s return — or at least setting hopeful expectations for fans through the media — and at worst he’s urging a player behind the scenes to return before he’s fully healed.
Granted, Bryant has also made no secret of his own expectations for an advanced timeframe.
And obviously he’d like to help the Cowboys improve to .500 with a home-and-home series sweep of the Giants under their belt as they embark upon what expects to be a season-long chase for the NFC East division crown. But you just hope that doesn’t factor into a decision to rush Bryant back too early.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
