OXNARD, Calif. -- Since the day Dez Bryant arrived in 2010, he and Tony Romo have been close to perfect on the field for the Dallas Cowboys.
Romo has completed 349 passes for 5,017 yards to Bryant over the years. Only Jason Witten has more catches and yards from Romo. Bryant has 50 touchdown catches from Romo. Nobody has more.
But even they need time to get it right.
In Monday’s first padded practice of training camp, Romo and Bryant did not connect on a pass in one-on-one, 7-on-7 or team drills. In one-on-one work, two passes were broken up by cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne. One went through Bryant’s hands. On the first play of 7-on-7 work, a deep ball was overthrown.
In 7-on-7 work, Bryant dove for a Romo crossing pass but it was just out of reach.
“It had a little bit more to do with the linebacker,” Romo said after practice. “Dez was good on that route. I threw it a little early. I was trying to anticipate a little bit too much and looked the 'backer off at the same time. … But Dez was good on that route. That was me missing.”
It was the first time Romo and Bryant were in pads together since Thanksgiving of last year. They started and finished only one game together last season. Bryant suffered a broken foot in the season opener, and Romo suffered a broken left collarbone a week later.
Romo suffered a re-break of the collarbone in the Thanksgiving loss to the Carolina Panthers. Bryant’s season came to an end shortly thereafter when the Cowboys decided to hold him out once the team was officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Of the Cowboys’ 969 offensive snaps last year, Romo and Bryant were on the field together for just 123 of them.
“We’re doing good,” Bryant said. “It’s the first day of pads, actual real football. We’re doing better and each day all we’re going to do is get better. When it’s time to go, we’ll be ready to go.
“We don’t need much time, but there’s nothing wrong with working on techniques and [getting] in that mode that we know we can be in.”
In the offseason, Bryant was held out of most of the competitive work in the organized team activities and minicamp as he recovered from right foot surgery in January. Despite having surgery in March on his left collarbone, Romo did not miss a day in the offseason.
To make up for the time lost in the offseason, Romo and Bryant got together a few times on their own after minicamp.
“He has been running and doing good things that help him come out and be a lot better starting off here than if you don't work,” Romo said of Bryant. “He works hard. He just needs to get the normal rust off for a week. You are seeing some signs of him coming out pretty quickly. Like anybody, it takes a few days.”
The Cowboys have time. They don’t play their first game until Sept. 11 against the New York Giants.
“Any time you can practice and play together, it is never a negative,” Romo said. “I have played with him so much, it’s really not if the mannerisms have changed. It’s really just about your ability for me to throw it as accurate as I can [and] for him to be able to run all day and not get tired. He is in the process of that right now.”
Bryant isn’t worried about losing any chemistry.
“Ah man, it never left,” Bryant said. “It’s just knocking off [rust]. It’s the first day of practice.”