Dez Bryant left the field with 1:21 remaining in the Dallas Cowboys' 37-36 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
The Isiah Thomas-esque move is a no-no within the NFL community.
"Dez Bryant leaving the field was absolutely, 100 percent, positively wrong. Can't do it under any circumstances," said Deion Sanders, an NFL Media analyst and Hall of Fame cornerback who played for the Cowboys.
The word "emotional" was the rationale used by Bryant and his teammates for the wide receiver's early exit.
On his weekly radio show with KRLD-FM in Dallas, Jason Garrett defended Bryant on Monday by saying, "Dez is one of the great team guys I've ever been around ... He loves his teammates, but you have to understand how to handle yourself ... he'll learn from this situation."
On NFL Network
NFL Replay
will re-air the Green Bay Packers' 37-36 win over the Dallas Cowboys from Week 15 on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. ET.
» * NFL Network schedule*
Bryant took some time Monday, during a visit to the Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, to address his decision to walk off the field.
"I was wrong," Bryant said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It didn't have anything to do with my teammates. I just ... I couldn't watch Green Bay kneel the ball down on the field after a tough loss like that.
"I was very emotional. I cried when I got into the locker room. I didn't want to show that stuff on the sideline."
This will be a storyline that takes the focus off the second-half debacle the Cowboys delivered Sunday.
We recapped every Week 15 game in the latest "Around The League Podcast."