Just between No. 88s, a former one for the Dallas Cowboys isn't at all that impressed with the current one.
Drew Pearson, a three-time All-Pro and 2011 Cowboys Ring of Honor inductee, fired away at Dez Bryant on Monday, telling ESPN Dallas, via The Dallas Morning News, that the wide receiver's production didn't come close to matching his hype while the team coughed up a 14-point lead during Sunday night's 27-24 loss to the New York Jets.
"You saw what happened in the fourth quarter," Pearson said. "We had wide receivers that couldn't finish the game. Come on! Jeez!
"The first quarter was spectacular. Great job, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. But now we need you in the fourth quarter and you can't even run? You catch three passes in the first quarter and then you get targeted five times after that and you don't make any catches?
"Let's not be so high on this guy who hasn't really done anything. He missed four games last season, he comes in this game and he can't finish it out."
Bryant was far from the only member of the Cowboys who struggled to finish strong, and Pearson blamed the team for holding training camp indoors at the Alamodome instead of outside in the Texas swelter.
"I'm not laying this on Dez," Pearson said. "All I'm saying is that the team, period, was not conditioned to handle that fourth quarter. And that's why you saw the Jets overcome them."
"Dez's first move was a jump, a hop-step. What is that?" Pearson said. "That's one second gone from the pass route. I mean, what is that? Come on.
"Yeah, he's raw. He's a monster. That's what monsters do, I guess. You see that in high school kids running routes like that."