New Cowboys WRs coach Sanjay Lal: Dez Bryant was less consistent in 2017, judging by the tape
By Brandon George , Staff Writer Contact Brandon Georgeon Twitter
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FRISCO - New Cowboys receivers coach Sanjay Lal came to work for Dallas with a plan in place. He said he put together a "point of attack" tape on each of the Cowboys receivers from last year, breaking down their every move.
Lal said he identified each receiver's strengths and deficiencies, homing in on technique.
"You have to coach the minutia or it doesn't help them," Lal said Friday from the opening day of Cowboys rookie minicamp, "so there are a lot of hours spent."
Lal spent a lot of time studying Dez Bryant's routes from 2017, well before the Cowboys released him last month.
What stood out to him about Bryant on tape from 2017?
"I still saw he's physical and violent at the route top," Lal said. "He's still one of the best slant runners in the league.
"Without getting into specifics, I just saw more inconsistencies in his game."
More inconsistencies than in previous years?
"Yeah," Lal said, "I would say so."
Lal said he knew Bryant's game well before he arrived in Dallas, having used him as an example at previous coaching stops.
"I would always pull Dez Bryant cut-ups, 'Here's how you go play violently for a ball, here's how you turn on a back-shoulder fade,'" Lal said. "I have a whole slant cut-up of Dez Bryant, so I've been a great admirer of how he plays the game. I still think he has that."
Asked to detail what inconsistencies he saw in Bryant's game in 2017, Lal declined.
"I really don't want to get into specifics in that, but a general feeling," Lal said.
Earlier this month, just after the draft, Cowboys scouting chief Will McClay told ESPN 103.3 that Bryant showed an inability to win one-on-one down field in 2017, adding "there was inconsistency" in his play. McClay backed off somewhat on those comments in following days in subsequent radio interviews.
But Lal echoed McClay.