SAN ANTONIO - Dallas Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant said he is in training camp to catch passes, not carry somebody else's shoulder pads after practice.
When receiver Roy Williams handed his pads to Bryant on Sunday after the team's first camp session in pads, the rookie who was the Cowboy's first-round draft pick last April didn't carry them. Veteran players traditionally hand their pads to a rookie after practice.
"I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads," Bryant said. "If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing."
Williams said every rookie has go to through such rituals during their first season. He said he carried pads and paid for meals when he was a rookie for the Detroit Lions in 2004.
"No matter if you're a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you've still got to do something when you're a rookie," Williams said.
When Bill Parcells was still with the Cowboys, the team's top pick was responsible for taking water to the coach during breaks at training camp. Current coach Wade Phillips doesn't have such a requirement.
While there are some who believe Bryant could challenge Williams for the starting job opposite Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin, there have been no apparent issues between the receivers.
After camp opened Saturday with a practice without pads, Williams called Bryant a great player and said he was glad Dallas drafted him.
"Controversy is what everybody loves, try to pin him against me, me against him, and it's not going to work," Williams said Saturday.
