I agree with Dez Bryant if was legitimately injured he shouldn’t have played.
With that being said NFL players, play hurt all the time and still are productive. Here is the advice Dez gives to young players via PFT.
“I’d tell them to get their body right,” Bryant said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I would tell them that that’s a mistake that I made. I’d tell them to get their body right. Keep it healthy, that should be the No. 1 goal.
“Sometimes you got to make those sacrifices. It’s hard. You want to be out there on that field. You want to make plays. You want to be out there with your teammates. But you can’t compromise your body. That’s what I’d tell them.”
“I’ve been grinding,” Bryant said. “I’ve been on that field hurt. I got scars. I got bruises on me just because how much I love the game and how much I want to see the Dallas Cowboys win. I want these people to understand that. . . . From Mondays to Sundays it’s a real grind. On Mondays, there’s times where you feel like you can’t even play on Sundays. That’s real. You got to get your mind right. You got to get that body right to go out here and do that. I feel like a lot of these fans forget that. It’s real out here. Ain’t nothing phony out here.”
It seems to me that Dez feels some of his lack of production is because he was hurt. It could be legit, or he is still in denial. The only way to find out is on the field.