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Speaking right after the New York Giants prevailed over the Green Bay Packers, the Giants defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul began stirring the waters with a brash statement to the media.
"We’re going to put it on them, man. I’m pretty sure the offense is going to get going. The defense is going to get going even more. And the special teams will contribute to it. It’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be a dogfight. There’s going to be a lot of blood spilled out there." - Jason Pierre-Paul
Even though the Giants are on a four-game winning streak, they are still two games under .500 with a 4-6 record, so perhaps Pierre-Paul's bold statement needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The football gods are a fickle bunch, and they have a way of making brash proclamations come back around to bite the issuing party in a rather sensitive part of their anatomy. That is a lesson that has been learned many times around the National Football League.
Cowboys fans will remember a time recently when Dez Bryant failed to exercise proper control of his comments regarding the pending battle between himself and Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions. We all remember his bold statement where he compared himself to Megatron. Unfortunately, we also remember how the Lions wide receiver, who refused to be drawn into the war of words in the media, instead preferred to answer Bryant in the only place that really matters: on the football field. Johnson countered Bryant's brashness by putting up the second-best receiving day in NFL history.
While Dez Bryant has not always shown the most sound judgement in these types of situations, he does seem to have learned something from his most recent "foot in mouth statements" prior to the game against the Detroit Lions. This time he is playing off the comments from the Giant's defensive lineman in a fashion that is very similar to the one that Calvin Johnson used a few weeks ago to downplay Bryant's own comments.
"He’s supposed to feel that way. You’re an opponent. We’re an opponent for them. It’s great confidence. We’re just going to go out there and play our game. All we focus on is the way we prepare and get ready for games. We’re going to go out there and give it our all." - Dez Bryant
As a fan, it is good to see #88 not taking the bait in this type of situation, and not helping to provide his opponents with a potential opportunity to get inside his head. To me it seems like the still maturing Bryant may have learned a lesson from all of the backlash that came from his comments prior to the game, and his ensuing behavior on the sidelines. So far he is refusing to get drawn into a media debate with next week's foe.
"We aren’t worried about proving anybody wrong. We’re just trying to go out there and play some ball, some great football and try to execute the plays we practice on each and every day in practice."
If Dez has learned a lesson based on his earlier faux pas this season, then the Dallas Cowboys will be better off because of the experience. If in addition to learning to show some discretion in his public statements, Dez also manages to turn in a stellar outing as his reply to the bold comments made by JPP; then it is even better. For now, the onus is on Bryant and his teammates to square themselves away, take care of what needs to be done, and not get distracted by what others are saying. The season is riding on their ability to do just that.