IRVING, Texas -- To suggest Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was not in good shape last season is to suggest Superman isn’t strong.

What executive vice president Stephen Jones meant by bringing up Bryant’s conditioning from last year on Wednesday had everything to do with football conditioning.

Bryant missed almost all of the offseason program last year once the Cowboys placed the franchise tag on him. He did not sign his five-year, $70 million deal until July 15, a few weeks before training camp began.

After wanting to work him in slowly into drills, Bryant suffered a hamstring strain that kept him out of half of the camp practices in Oxnard, California, and the four preseason games. Then, in the season opener, he suffered a broken right foot that kept him out for five games.

He played in only nine games last season and caught just 31 passes for 401 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Bryant had a second surgery on his right foot in January, and while he isn’t fully cleared yet, Jones said the team is pleased with his progress so far. The expectation is that Bryant will be able to practice at least some during the organized team activities and June minicamp.

But the far bigger expectation is that he looks like the receiver that averaged 13 touchdowns from 2012 to 2014.

“He's done an outstanding job and been committed to being around, and I think that's only getting better,” Jones said. “That's what we need of him, is to get well and do his rehab and then get in great shape. I think one of the tough things about last year for Dez, he plays with such energy.

He continued: "With the contract dispute, if you will, he wasn't around, which is business, and consequently he probably wasn't in his best shape going into the season. And then you start to add the injuries when players aren't in shape and they continued on through training camp and then on into the season and we ended up not having him much last year, so if he can get his rehab done and get himself in top condition, then I think we'll see the same Dez that we saw two years ago.”
