Last week, the Dallas Cowboys put quarterback Tony Romo on injured reserve to officially shut down his 2015 season. Now, another star is confirmed to be done for this year. Wide receiver Dez Bryant was placed on injured reserve by the Cowboys on Wednesday due to lingering injuries, and now it’s known that he will actually need more surgery. The question remains: Will Dez Bryant be ready to start 2016 on the field?
Bryant missed the majority of the season with a broken bone in his foot, but he’s dealt with much more. The foot has continued to bother him since returning, and ankle injuries have also made things a lot worse for him.
Dez Bryant is headed to IR, ending his season. Jason Garrett says Bryant will have surgery on his ankle and foot. pic.twitter.com/rY6s8KVQcM
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 30, 2015
ESPN reported that the Cowboys are officially ending Dez Bryant’s season by placing him on injured reserve. Head coach Jason Garrett and the rest of the coaching staff do not want to risk further injury to Bryant for a season finale game that really has no significance on anything.
Garrett said that Bryant is expected to have another surgery on his right foot and his ankle in the near future. The Cowboys head coach said he still does not feel as if the Pro Bowl wide receiver came back too fast from his initial surgery in September.
In all, Dez Bryant played in nine games in the 2015 season after breaking his right foot in the season opener against the New York Giants . Surgery happened the next day, and he missed five games before getting back on the field.
Bryant had a bone graft to help in the healing process, and that’s quite standard with how the Cowboys handle foot surgeries. Then, in October, he had a stem-cell injection into his foot.
In the November 8 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Bryant hurt both his ankle and his knee in a game where he caught five passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. He taped up his knee and continued to play through the pain of multiple injuries.
NBC Sports states that it was simply the matter of Dez Bryant’s health as to why he was placed on injured reserve. Garrett said that the Cowboys being 4-11 and mathematically eliminated from the playoffs had nothing to do with their decision to end his season.
In 2015, Bryant did not attend any of the offseason conditioning for the Cowboys, OTAs, or minicamp due to a contract dispute. He finally got his five-year/$70 million deal with $45 million in mid-July, but he suffered a hamstring strain early in training camp and missed most practices and all of the preseason.
The Cowboys believe that the lack of early work and conditioning really affected Bryant’s ability to play at his normal level.
Now, Dez Bryant is set to undergo a number of tests and evaluations on his left foot, but Garrett does believe that another surgery will be necessary. It is believed that even if Bryant doesn’t have the surgery for a couple of weeks, he will be ready by training camp in July.
The Dallas Cowboys had a 2015 season they would much rather forget with very few wins, a quarterback carousel, and plenty of injuries. Dez Bryant did what he could during the time he was actually able to be on the field, but his injuries have now ended his season. The Cowboys want him ready for 2016, and it’s best to not risk him further.
[Image by Tom Pennington/Getty Images]