The Dallas Cowboys won on Sunday in a 24-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins and it brought their record up to 3-7. Sure, it’s not the greatest in the NFL, but it broke a seven-game losing streak and saw the return of quarterback Tony Romo. Still, not everything was great as defensive end Greg Hardy did not look too impressive and has been causing problems again for the team.
As Dallas News pointed out, Hardy looked rather disappointing against the Dolphins, but then again, so did Tyron Smith. They both had some issues with their opponents on the other side of the line and didn’t get much push for the defense.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that both of them came alive, but it took far too long to see them do something helpful for the Dallas’ defense. Hardy went up against Branden Albert all day, and it was the Dolphins’ offensive lineman who won three of four quarters.
The disappointing performance by Hardy on Sunday isn’t the biggest of problems for the Cowboys though.
Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Greg Hardy has arrived late to team meetings a number of times in recent weeks. As if that isn’t bad enough, he missed several team meetings entirely a couple of weeks ago and then was almost late to practice on the very same day.
Last week, Hardy was late to a pregame meeting in Tampa which came on the night before the Cowboys’ loss to the Buccaneers. This isn’t just causing problems for the team, but those in the organization are actually starting to lose support for him.
The #Cowboys support for DE Greg Hardy is waning, I’m told. He was late last Thursday, late to a night-before game meeting last Saturday.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 22, 2015
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has long shown his support for Greg Hardy and said that he would not falter on that. Dallas was one of just three teams that showed interest in signing Hardy after the 2014 domestic violence incident with his ex-girlfriend.
This season, Hardy has gotten into a sideline fight with special teams coach Ricch Bisaccia. Last week, he and defensive lineman Demarcus Lawrence had to be separated on the sideline after they got into a heated confrontation right before halftime.
Throw in some lackluster play this season and many are beginning to wonder how worthwhile of an investment Hardy really is. The fighting with teammates and coaches is something that is bad enough, but he’s far from the only Cowboys player to do something like this.
Earlier this season, wide receiver Dez Bryant went off on reporters in the locker room and even had to be separated from them. He wasn’t suspended or disciplined in any way by the team or the NFL.
Greg Hardy already missed the first four games of this season due to the domestic violence situation, but has not been disciplined or suspended for any of his other actions. Still, it seems like it may be only a matter of time until he is.
The tardiness to meetings is something that many teams in the NFL may be willing to forget about if the player is an All-Pro or delivering on the field. Hardy isn’t doing that right now and it’s showing that he doesn’t really care about the game and especially about the Cowboys.
Earlier this week, the Cowboys released defensive back Corey White and running back Christine Michael for not adhering to the dress code for the trip to face the Buccaneers. That goes to show that teams take the team rules serious.
Greg Hardy really needs to watch what he is doing, or not doing, and know that he isn’t untouchable with the Dallas Cowboys. His support is growing less and less by each week, and the team may soon realize they’ve had enough.
[Image via Getty Images/Jamie Squire]