OXNARD, Calif. -- It's a scary thought for NFL defensive backs, but Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says there's a lot of room for Dez Bryant to improve.
Bryant, 25, is coming off his best season and first trip to the Pro Bowl. He totaled 1,233 yards and 13 touchdowns on 93 receptions. His peers recently ranked him the 25th-best player in the league.
And Garrett doesn't think Bryant has reached his ceiling.
"There is so much room for improvement," Garrett said Friday. "The way you get better is you come to work every day. It's important to him. He loves it. And he gets well-coached. He gets coached hard."
Bryant and his coach are on the same page. Following Friday morning's walk-through session, the former first-round pick said his game is "still rising."
"I learn new things and things just become easier by the day," Bryant said. "It's almost kind of scary to me just because of the fact of how much I love the game, not only myself, I want my teammates to be great."
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So, what exactly can Bryant improve on?
"Everything," he responded. "The route running. Just the simple stuff. Keeping my arms pumping at the top of the route. Just trying to be explosive. Being explosive coming in and out of my cuts and off the ball."
Throughout OTAs and minicamp, Bryant would often put in extra work and be one of the last players to leave the field. After Thursday's practice, Bryant remained on the field and caught passes from Garrett.
"He understands the environment that he's in and he embraces it every day," Garrett said. "Just watch him in practice. He's a guy who just loves to play this game. When he's not in there he's catching balls with everybody he can.
He's always trying to get better and that's one of the reasons we love him."
