ARLINGTON – Not even the dismal diagnosis of a broken bone in his foot put a damper on Dez Bryant’s excitement over his Dallas Cowboys’ improbable 27-26 season-opening victory over the Giants on Sunday night.
“I can’t wait to get back!” he told me.
But wait he must. Bryant says he sustained a broken bone in his right foot – from what I’m told the fifth metatarsal (atop the foot leading to the pinkie toe) – that will require the surgical insertion of a screw. Bryant says he expects to miss four weeks; the Cowboys are prepared to be without the All-Pro receiver for up to 
six weeks.
Said quarterback Tony Romo, who led a Dez-less comeback of the sort that has become his trademark: “Dez is a tough loss. You can’t replace Dez Bryant. I hurt for him right now because I know how much he loves to play this game.” Bryant demonstrated that love when his victorious teammates trotted through the bowels of AT&T Stadium to the locker room, where he gave them a rousing welcome.
Bryant’s enthusiasm probably caused his exit in the first half Sunday due to dehydration. He eventually returned before the foot injury ended his night with five catches for 48 yards and a locker-room TV view of Jason Witten grabbing two late TD passes.
Dallas will have to rely on its Hall-of-Fame tight end, his backup Gavin Escobar, receivers Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley and Devin Street and the running-back-by-committee combo of Joe Randle, Darren McFadden and Lance Dunbar (a combined 211 total yards) to exhibit better ball control than some of them did here while enduring Bryant’s absence.
“No one can replace Dez Bryant,” said Romo, who finished 36-of-45 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns as Dallas came from 10 down midway through the final period and six down with seven seconds left. “But it’s my job to help that whole situation.”
