Prescott knows Dez is his guy
Boldin retires after less than 2 weeks with Bills
ARLINGTON, Texas — It didn’t take long for Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant to find a rhythm in Saturday night’s 24-19 preseason win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Prescott targeted the Pro Bowl receiver on his first pass play. First and 10 from Dallas’ own five, Prescott found Bryant for an eight-yard strike that was quickly turned into 23 yards after breaking a tackle.
“He has been healthy all offseason, so that chemistry has grown,” Prescott said. “He’s been a guy that his ears are wide open, wanting to know what I’m thinking, and I want to know what he’s thinking. It’s just been back and forth of just talking and doing it out there on the field and it’s only growing.”
Six plays later the two hooked up again, this time on a back shoulder throw that Bryant hauled in at Indianapolis’ six-yard line. The defending corner fell and Bryant avoided a big hit from another defensive back as he spun into the endzone.
The play went for 32 yards and the game’s first score. Seven plays, 95 yards on the drive.
“Dez is a guy that you just give him a chance one-on-one,” Prescott said. “Film study helps, but more importantly those reps we’ve had in practice all camp long probably have been more valuable to us.”
The two were on the field for one more drive before their first preseason action of the year came to an end. Prescott finished the night playing 18 snaps, Bryant 17.
“To me, it’s the best Dez has been,” Prescott said. BOLDIN RETIRES: In Orchard Park, N.Y., receiver Anquan Boldin abruptly gave up on football just under two weeks after signing with Buffalo.
General manager Brandon Beane made it official Sunday night.
“We appreciate the time he gave us over the past two weeks,” Beane said in a statement released by the Bills. “He is one of the best receivers to play this game and we wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”
Boldin’s decision came as a complete surprise, especially after he talked about building on his legacy entering his 15th season and being open to
serving as a mentor for Buffalo’s young group of receivers. Boldin was intent on playing this season upon signing a one-year contract with a base salary of $1.75 million on Aug. 7.
Boldin, who still had the Bills logo featured on his Twitter account, was not available for comment.
Boldin was the NFL’s 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner and ranks in the top four among active receivers with 1,076 catches, 13,779 yards receiving and 82 touchdowns receiving.
SILENT PROTEST: The sight of defensive end Chris Long putting his arm around Eagles teammate Malcolm Jenkins during the national anthem inspired Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Cameron Jefferson to make his own statement.
Jefferson raised his fist in what he called a silent, peaceful gesture protesting racial inequality before the Bills’ preseason game at Philadelphia on Thursday night.
“It gave me some courage,” Jefferson said Sunday, referring to seeing Long support Jenkins, who stood with a raised fist. “Just seeing that togetherness
on their team between different races, different people, I felt like that’s all I wanted. I wanted togetherness to build awareness for that.”
It hit home for Jefferson because he and Jenkins are both members of Omega Psi Phi, a predominantly black fraternity founded at Howard University in 1911.
“It was important to me because I felt in my spirit, in my heart, that I had to take a stand for myself,” the 25-year-old Jefferson said.
STEELERS 17, FALCONS 13: In Pittsburgh, James Conner overcame Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a serious right knee injury to reach the NFL. He showed in his Pittsburgh Steelers debut Sunday that he plans to stick around for a while.
The rookie running back from the University of Pittsburgh broke off runs of 17 and 19 yards, leading to Bart Houston’s go-ahead, 6-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hunter in the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh’s exhibition victory.
Conner was greeted with an ovation on the third series of the game when he made his first carry. The third-round pick had 20 carries for 98 yards.