ARLINGTON, Texas -- It was a frustrating afternoon for rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant.
Bryant had no catches in the Cowboys' loss to the Saints on Thursday and it seemed he had communication issues on a few throws from Jon Kitna on the final drive.
Faced with a first-and-10 from the Saints 41, Kitna threw a pass inside while Bryant ran down the sidelines for an incompletion. Kitna yelled at Bryant after the play and motioned that he wanted the receiver to come back to the ball.
Kitna tried to go back to Bryant again, this time on a bubble screen, but the ball was knocked down at the line of scrimmage with 35 seconds left.
On a third-and-10 play, the last offensive play of the game, Kitna threw a pass toward the Saints sideline, but Bryant again was running straight down the field. After the incompletion with 31 seconds, the Cowboys opted for a 59-yard field goal attempt by David Buehler, which was wide left.
"They do some confusing things," Kitna said of the Saints defense. "There was one time where there was something he saw, and he saw it right and I was wrong. And on the third down unfortunately it cost us to have to get off the field."
There were times during the game that Bryant was seen yelling on the sideline, but he's said in the past he's just an emotional player and wants to pump up his teammates.
Bryant declined to comment to reporters after the game.
After a four-game stretch where he had 23 catches for 328 yards and four touchdowns, plus a 93-yard punt return for a score, Bryant has struggled. He has just four catches for eight yards the last two games. Thursday marked the first time he failed to catch a pass.
"Sometimes when they’re pressed up there, some of those routes convert," Jason Garrett said of Bryant's issues on Thursday. "Some of them stay on. It was a case where at least on one of them, they weren’t on same page."