Some members of the Dallas Cowboys organization have taken shots at Dez Bryant since the team parted ways with its former star, but wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal is adamant that he was not one of them.
Earlier this week at training camp, Lal was asked if the Cowboys have anyone who can “go up and get a ball” and help fill the void left by Bryant departure. Many interpreted his response to mean Dallas is better off without Dez.
“I would think so. I would rather have down-the-field guys that go run down a ball and score than live in the back shoulder world,” Lal said. “We want touchdowns. We have some of those.”
Of course, Bryant was a master of reeling in back-shoulder throws when Tony Romo was still the quarterback in Dallas. Still, Lal told 105.3 The Fan’s “Shan & RJ” on Friday that the media was trying to fabricate a story out of nothing.
“I was asked about a technique question, and someone tries to take it and spin it into a headline,” he said, via Matt Galatzan of 247Sports.com. “Whoever this is that tries to spin this as a Dez bash, it’s BS. … I have ultimate respect for Dez. I was excited to come here and have a chance to coach him. If he was here, I’d relish that opportunity.”
Lal said he was simply illustrating why it is a bad habit for a receiver to rely solely on back-shoulder plays.
“The question that was asked of me was, ‘What’s my preference on basically go-balls,'” he continued. “I was raised by Al Davis and Al Saunders, and in an Al Saunders offense, ‘back-shoulder’ is a bad word because of one reason: If you tell a receiver he can win on a back-shoulder, he doesn’t run fast. So, to teach a go-route correctly, you put your head down for 20-to-25 yards, look up, and go score.
“If you’re thinking about back-shoulder — even if the inkling is in your head — you’re not going run and try to win. Even when you’re hip-to-hip, we say you got to come out the other end and QB’s throw the ball down the field.”
We have seen some unkind words exchanged between Bryant and certain former teammates, but Lal said it is “really disappointing” that so many comments are being spun into criticisms of Bryant. Perhaps he’s right, but that should be expected given how openly unhappy Dez was with the way things ended in Dallas.
