Jones defends Bryant: 'Only God knows' how many meetings he's missed

The in-house reaction to an ESPN report offering up some details on a "pattern of irresponsible behavior" on the part of Dez Bryant was to be expected.

Bryant himself issued a quick denial of the idea that he'd missed as many as 40 team meetings during his time with the Dallas Cowboys.

Owner Jerry Jones then came to the defense of his superstar wideout following Sunday's win over the San Francisco 49ers, vouching for the love and respect he's earned from those within the organization.

"No one knows his attendance record for meetings in his six-going-on-seven years that he's been a Dallas Cowboy," Jones said, via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. "He's loved by his teammates, he's respected by his teammates, he's respected by me, he's respected by his coaches. He has a few foibles, he's different than me so we have to look at those but his qualities seriously outshine that."

But it all started to get a little silly with the deflection Jones dropped as he continued to downplay the significance of unexcused absences from Bryant over the years.

"Since the beginning of time, meetings and the timeliness of his meetings have been the No. 1 issue," Jones added. "On the face of them, I would say these aren't correct. Because only God knows one way or another how many of these meetings he's missed."

OK, Jerry.