**********2018 DALLAS COWBOYS**********

Ex-Cowboy Patrick Crayton told to shut up by new coach


Ex-Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton is in a war of words with his new coach in San Diego.

Crayton, who was traded by the Cowboys just before the season, blasted his Chargers' special teams unit for not taking their jobs seriously.

The Seahawks' Leon Washington ran back two kicks (101 and 99 yards) for touchdowns to help Seattle upset the the Chargers 27-20 on Sunday.

"Right now, (special teams) coach (Steve) Crosby is (ticked) off. I don't blame him," Crayton said after the game. "The guys who are sitting in the meetings are not taking him seriously when he tells you to do a certain thing on a kickoff. He's been in this league I don't know how many years. He's been around a while for a reason, obviously. You have to take this stuff seriously."

Responding to the critical comments, San Diego head coach Norv Turner told Crayton to stifle himself.

"Patrick is new to our organization," Turner said on Monday. "And I don't think you'll hear any other comments about it from Patrick. He knows now that the way we handle things is in-house."

Turner has reportedly met with the veteran receiver. "I think Patrick understands I am the spokesman in terms of how we're handling things," Turner said on Monday.

Turner said he doesn't agree with Crayton's message, because if it were a problem, he would have brought it up earlier.

"If he had told me that (on) Wednesday morning, and said, 'Hey, these guys aren't taking things serious, then you say, 'Hey, wait a minute,' " Turner said.

Horos wrote:

Wonder how many times earlier in this thread people said it was the best division?

Oh yeah, I'm sure it was supposed to be one of the best in the league. The Redskins were expected to be sub-par but there is not excuse for what the Cowboys and Giants have been bringing on Sundays!

This is just plain silly...


Dez Bryant buys steak dinner for teammates; final bill $55,000


Dez Bryant continues to shower his teammates with gifts, the latest a trip to a Dallas steakhouse.

"I'm here eating drinking with my dogs I go to war with every Sunday doing it big at pappas steakhouse!!!!" Bryant wrote on his Twitter.

Michael Smith, floor manager at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, refused to comment on the gathering. But numerous Cowboys players described the experience.

Wrote receiver Miles Austin: "Food is crazy here!!!"

Wrote receiver Jesse Holley: "Woke up this morning and scramble me some cheese eggs to go w/ my left over 20oz Kobe steak from last night. Mmmmmmm!"

Wrote running back Felix Jones before the dinner: "Our offensive rookies are buying dinner ... I remember those days. Sure don't miss them the least bit."

Bryant helped foot the bill for the dinner.

"It was his responsibility, and he knew it," David Wells, a confidante to Bryant told the Dallas Morning News' Gerry Fraley. "He knew he was going to have to buy dinner one way or the other. He was either going to have to buy dinner or wash a lot of dishes."

This isn't the first gift Bryant has offered teammates. The rookie -- who declined to carry Roy Williams' shoulder pads earlier in camp -- presented his fellow receivers with Air Jordan Olympic 7s. He also picked up the Madden NFL 11 video game for himself and Williams.

"I did that out of the kindness of my heart,'' Bryant said of the shoes. "It didn't have anything to do with rookie hazing. I just want to build a great relationship with those guys.''

And what about the Madden game? "I know Roy loves video games, so I got it,'' Bryant said. "That's all about trying to build team chemistry. I feel if you've got that, you play a lot harder.

"There were some things I did at Oklahoma State, like I bought the whole wide out crew dog tags and they had their name, their number and freak time on it. That's what our receiver coach had called us. I felt like that brought us together.

"I just want to do my little part here.''

I think someone mentioned something about $9,000 bottles of wine. I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and a bottle of Yellow Tail or something cheap....