OXNARD, Calif. -- Dez Bryant has been trying to do everything he can to get back to the form he had in 2014 -- when he led the NFL in touchdown catches -- after foot surgeries kept him from seven games last season and out of team drills in the offseason.
Friday was a sign Bryant is coming around.
During one-on-one drills at Dallas Cowboys training camp, he caught a back-shoulder throw from Tony Romo near the right sideline with just his left hand. He tapped his two feet before going out of bounds, dropped the ball over his shoulder and stared into the approving crowd.
“My season ended a little bit early last year,” Bryant said. “Just getting back to doing the stuff that I love, catching the football, playing football, being out here with my teammates. Every day, it just gets better and it just feels more natural and natural and natural. I’m just excited. I’m taking it day by day and feeling good about it.”
In team and 7-on-7 drills, Bryant caught three of the five passes thrown his way. One incompletion was too long on a go route and a second was underthrown as Romo was under pressure.
• Sometimes interceptions aren’t quarterback’s fault. Romo had two of them that could be in that category. Receiver Terrance Williams could not come up with a quick slant in red-zone work in 7-on-7 drills and the tipped ball fell into the hands of cornerback Brandon Carr. Later, safety J.J. Wilcox came up with a deflection off tight end Jason Witten's hands in the end zone.
• In situational work, the Romo-to-Witten connection hooked up twice in the middle of the field, with the first reception converting a third down and the second setting up a field goal attempt by Dan Bailey.
“It’s just work,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “They got to keep getting a feel for one another. And it’s good to see it starting to go off again. I think that is just a matter of time. They will get it down pat if we keep working at it.”
On to the observations:
Defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford missed his fifth consecutive practice with a sore back, but there was hope: He went through his rehab wearing shoulder pads. So did defensive end Benson Mayowa, who is on the physically unable to perform list as he recovers from knee surgery.
In the offense vs. defense competition period, the defense finally came out on top. Cornerback Josh Thomas broke up a deep ball to Andy Jones from Romo; Mark Nzeocha bull-rushed running back Darius Jackson in pass protection and linebacker James Morris pushed tight end Rico Gathers back into the quarterback. Among the linemen, defensive end Ryan Russell used a spin move to get around offensive tackle Cameron Bradfield and DE David Irving got under OT Chaz Green. The offense’s only win came from backup center/guard Joe Looney, who smothered D-lineman Jack Crawford.
Second-year tight end Geoff Swaim had a productive day, catching five passes in team and seven-on-seven drills.
With Sean Lee (rest), Kyle Wilber (back) and Cedric Thornton (sick) not practicing, Justin Durand and Nzoecha worked with the first-team defense and undrafted rookie linebacker Rodney Coe worked at defensive tackle.
With injuries at running back, fullback Rod Smith is being forced into some tailback work. He had some nice runs up the middle with the third-team offense, taking advantage of some big holes.