After inking a deal with the New Orleans Saints, new receiver Dez Bryant won’t play immediately. Instead, he’s being asked to drop some weight and might be available to play in Week 11 when the Saints take on the Philadelphia Eagles, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
New #Saints WR Dez Bryant is expected to sit out Sunday‘s game vs. #Bengals. They want him to drop weight and he needs more than two practices to learn the offense, build chemistry, etc. Debut could come the following week vs. the #Eagles. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/NisbE8tmZU
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 9, 2018
None of this should be shocking to anyone. Bryant didn’t attend training camp and has been training on his own since the Dallas Cowboys released him back in the spring. He’ll need time to get into football shape, and clearly two practices isn’t enough time for any player to step into a brand new offense.
That said, this could be one of the reasons New Orleans was able to ink Bryant so cheaply.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Saints’ upcoming opponent, the Cincinnati Bengals, is dealing with significant injuries on both sides of the ball, and that New Orleans itself is playing outstanding football right now. Bryant was brought in to be a force down the stretch and into the postseason — there’s absolutely no need to rush him into action right away.