Dez Bryant praises Cortland Finnegan

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant (88) smiles while on the sideline during the game against the Houston Texans at AT

Dallas Cowboys superstar wide receiver Dez Bryant absolutely shredded an elite cornerback last year, as most of his nine catches for 141 yards (he also had a touchdown) against the Kansas City Chiefs came when matched up against shutdown CB Brandon Flowers. Cortland Finnegan is the St. Louis Rams No. 1 corner, and the scrappy cover man is also touted as one of the best CBs in the land. While Finnegan has had an incredibly rough start to the season with an awful 14.2 yards per attempt allowed in his cover this year, per the Pro Football Focus, he is definitely a talented player who should be watched for closely.

Cortland Finnegan seems to have the full respect of Dez Bryant, who praised the Rams veteran CB, via ESPN Dallas’s Calvin Watkins, “He’s a great player. He’s got great instincts. He’s very quick. Great player. I think he’s kind of different now. I don’t really see him talk that much. You can tell if somebody is talking. You can see it on the film. It doesn’t look like he does it that much. He seems more focused on his business.”

Julio Jones absolutely tore up the St. Louis Rams last week, and I expect a similar result from Dez Bryant. That is unless the Rams pull the New York Giants strategy and throw the house at Bryant in coverage, which would thus leave Jason Witten and Miles Austin wide open. This is a strategy that clearly backfires, and the Giants learned that the hard way. While they held the uber-talented Bryant to just 22 receiving yards, Witten and Austin led the passing attack to victory with 18 combined receptions due to Bryant drawing all that attention from the Giants.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter for more NFL updates and analysis @SorianoJoe. Be sure to like us on Facebook here and follow our site on Twitter as well.