Cowboys’ Bryant is more than ready

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO

Dez Bryant was more than on time for the start of the Dallas Cowboys training camp. The first-round pick was the first player on the field Saturday.

“I’m just ready to play, that’s the message,” Bryant said. “I’m ready to do whatever they ask me to do. I’m here to work hard, I’m here to give 100 percent, just bring my A-game.”

Wearing the No. 88 jersey assigned to him right after being drafted, Bryant emerged from the Alamodome tunnel about 45 minutes before the Cowboys’ first workout. The receiver from Oklahoma State then caught passes from an undrafted rookie quarterback.

Bryant had alleviated any concern about him missing any workouts when he agreed to terms of a five-year contract even before getting to San Antonio. He signed it after he arrived for the NFL’s longest full-squad camp this year.

“I’m going to use the phrase, not on time, before time,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Friday while commending Bryant and his agent, Eugene Parker, for getting the deal done. “They both knew that this thing was important to set a tone, set an impression. ... Boy, that’s a good sign.”

Another impressive cue came Saturday.

Bryant arrived at the Alamodome more than two hours before practice. Once on the field, he acknowledged the growing crowd with a wave and then ran a variety of routes long before Tony Romo and the rest of the team even came out of the locker room.

“I did do it on purpose, to show the fans I’m ready to play,” Bryant said.

He was also one of the last players to leave after the two-hour practice. He talked to several waves of reporters and signed autographs, even obliging one man’s request to sign the back of an outfit being worn by a 9-month-old boy before posing for a picture holding the baby.

Dallas is the first team to have its full squad on the field, and no other teams are scheduled to have that until Wednesday.

The Cowboys play their preseason opener in two weeks as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend that will include NFL career rushing leader and three-time Super Bowl champion Emmitt Smith’s induction.