OXNARD, Calif. – This is Jerry Jones' 27th training camp as Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager. He's seen plenty of camp fights. The one Sunday between Dez Bryant and Tyler Patmon wasn't a surprise.
It was a "throwback" to the heated camp battles in the '90s featuring fierce competitors such as Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders.
"That's good stuff. That's training camp," Jones said. "Now, that's not new. That's been happening at our training camps for years and years and years. It is a throwback to the years when you saw Michael Irvin, Deion and those guys."
Bryant and Patmon made national news with a late-practice skirmish that required several team members, including quarterback Tony Romo, to help diffuse it over the course of several minutes. Both players hugged afterwards and told reporters the spat was over.
Bryant's passion, in addition to his All-Pro skills, is one of the reasons the Cowboys re-signed him to a five-year, $70 million contract the week before camp. Jones wasn't surprised Bryant made an effort to smooth things over with his teammate.
"This was our second day of having this crowd out here, and then the kind of atmosphere everybody has worked to put together, and that atmosphere breeds that kind of passion," Jones said. "It breeds that kind of excitement, and sure enough here comes some little after-the-whistle action. It didn't surprise me at all."
