The Dallas Cowboys' first day of practices featured two of the team's biggest stars speaking to the media for the first time in Oxnard. Tony Romo spoke after the Cowboys morning walk-through, with Dez Bryant talking to reporters after the afternoon practice. It was the first time Bryant had spoken to the media since signing his new contract July 15.
Here are five things to know about the two interviews:
1. Romo says he no longer even thinks about his back injuries of the past and will practice more this year in training camp than he did last season. In 2014, Romo never practiced more than two days in a row to keep his back from giving him problems.
2. Bryant emphasized that his new contract will not impact his performance on the football field, saying, "I play the game because I love the game."
3. Romo admitted that even six months later, the controversial finish to the Cowboys' playoff loss to the Packers in Green Bay still haunts him. He went on to tell the media that he might never fully get over the called incompletion.
4. Bryant praised Cowboys owner Jerry Jones profusely, saying, "I love Jerry and I know Jerry loves me." He also made it clear that he would have gone through with skipping regular season games this season if a contract had not been agreed to by the July 15 deadline. "It would have killed me, but I swear I would have stood by it."
5. Despite consistently being picked as the top team in the NFC East this summer, Romo isn't concerned with the opinions and expectations of the media (per usual). Romo jokingly said he remembers that the media picked the Cowboys to finish in fifth in the division last year. "For those of you that don't know, there are only four teams."