IRVING, Texas – Dez Bryant has dedicated himself to not be a football dunce.

“If I'm going to be put out there with Tony Romo, (Jason) Witten and Miles Austin, I got to know what the hell I’m doing,” Bryant said after catching four passes for 85 yards in the season opener. “I felt like I dedicated myself to do that. Not only that, I had help from Tony, I had help from Miles, Wit, the rest of the guys. I felt like it helped me out a lot and I learned a lot, and I'm going to keep it moving.”

There were all kinds of issues Bryant’s rookie season with his knowledge of the playbook, or lack thereof. Bryant made great strides last year in his second season.

It’s not fair or accurate to say that Bryant’s understanding of the scheme is still a problem. But this is a continuing process, not a finished product.

As coach Jason Garrett points out, that will be the case for the rest of Bryant’s career.

“The old expression is either you’re growing or you’re dying, right?” Garrett said. “So for us to say Dez Bryant has it all right now I think would be an injustice to him and it wouldn’t be real good coaching. It wouldn’t be a real good approach by him.

"He’s got to get better at everything he does, just as every player on our team and certainly every member of our coaching staff has to get better. So we don’t live in the world, like, ‘We got it all down pat. Boy, I’m set there.’ That’s not the world we live in."

Garrett emphasized that he's seen a lot of growth from Bryant. But there's still plenty of room for improvement from a receiver with immense potential.

"I think he’s just getting better and better," Garrett said. "He wins on a lot of routes and he catches the ball and that’s a good thing for a receiver to do.”

Especially when he’s running the right routes on a consistent basis.