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Dez Bryant Injury: Receiver Has Hairline Fracture But Cowboys Remain Optimistic

By Bryan Zarpentine
Published on: 09:45 PST, Sep 28, 2016

Dez Bryant injured his knee during Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears, and after undergoing an MRI on Wednesday, the Dallas Cowboys have a diagnosis for their star wide receiver. According to sources who spoke to ESPN, Bryant has a hairline fracture in his right tibia. How long Bryant will be out remains unclear, but the Cowboys appear to be optimistic and haven’t even ruled out the possibility of having Bryant available Sunday when the Cowboys play the San Francisco 49ers.

Dallas head coach Jason Garrett addressed the media on Wednesday, informing them that Bryant had a hairline fracture in his knee. Garrett said that although the injured Bryant did not practice on Wednesday, he did work out, leaving the door open for him to play on Sunday. However, Garrett also admitted it’s possible that Bryant will have to miss up to three weeks due to the injury.

“What I’ve been told that it is a day-to-day, week-to-week injury,” Garrett said. “We’ve had players with this kind of injury, who missed no time in the past and other players who have missed up to a week, two (weeks) or more than that. We’ll take it day by day, and we’ll see how he does when he comes in (Thursday), see how he feels, and we’ll make our evaluations there as we go forward.”

Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver Dez Bryant inactive during a game [Image by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]

Bryant was injured on the second play of Sunday’s game against the Bears, as his leg was caught underneath Chicago’s Christian Jones, who was making a tackle on Bryant. He sat out the next six plays before returning and went on to play 52 of the team’s 68 offensive snaps.

The fact that Bryant played hurt for much of Sunday’s game would seem to bode well for him being able to return to action as soon as possible. Bryant caught three passes against the Bears for 40 yards, including a touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Dak Prescott.

Bryant being injured is nothing new for the Cowboys. As CBS Sports reminds us, Bryant missed time last season due to a broken bone in his foot. He was somewhat ineffective when he returned from the injury and was ultimately shut down late in the season because of lingering problems with his foot and a knee issue. Last year’s experience could make the Cowboys think twice about putting Bryant on the field before he’s fully recovered from his current injury.

At the same time, Dallas struggled last season while Bryant was either on the sidelines or playing hurt. The Cowboys have little depth at wide receiver behind Bryant, which is something for the team to consider when deciding whether to play Bryant while injured or keep him out until he’s fully healed.

Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver Dez Bryant scoring his first touchdown of 2016. [Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]

Outside of Bryant, veteran tight end Jason Witten and diminutive slot receiver Cole Beasley are the team’s only viable receiving threats. It’s also important to keep in mind that the Cowboys have a rookie quarterback in Prescott, who has just three career starts under his belt.

However, Prescott is yet to develop much chemistry with Bryant and appears confident that he can lead the Cowboys with or without their star wide receiver on the field.

“I don’t really pay attention to who I’m throwing to,” says Prescott. “I just go through my reads, whoever’s open gets the ball. So I mean hope gets well, is well really, really soon, but it doesn’t really affect this offense.”

Prescott may be naive to say this, although the Cowboys could risk sitting Bryant this weekend against a porous San Francisco defense. After shutting out the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, the 49ers have given up a total of 83 points over the past two weeks, which should give Dallas some hope that they can move the ball against San Francisco, even with an injured Bryant on the sidelines.

The Inquisitr is predicting a Dallas win this weekend; however, the injury to Bryant makes that far less of a certainty. Dallas also has a rather difficult schedule beyond Sunday’s clash with the 49ers, with upcoming games against the Bengals, Packers, and Eagles over the next month.

The Cowboys will undoubtedly need Bryant to be healthy and on the field if they expect to win any of those games. The team’s best bet may be to sit Bryant on Sunday and take their chances against the 49ers without him, hoping that a healthy Bryant will be ready to return to the field the following week. If Bryant’s injury forces him to miss multiple games, or he suffers a more serious injury while trying to play hurt, Dallas could be in big trouble this season.

[Featured Image by Tom Pennington/Getty Images]

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