In Tuesday's practice, he took every pass he caught during team drills to the end zone and then jogged back to the line of scrimmage. All of it designed to improve his conditioning.
He has also been studying
Jerry Rice's slant-and-go and Irvin's skinny post.
"Oh my God! You should see the way Jerry runs that thing," Bryant says, his voice rising. "Let me show you. Jerry doesn't just take a step inside, he takes two hard steps inside and -- check this out -- he turns his head to look for the ball, which really sells the slant. Then he plants hard, cuts back out and it's a wrap.
Steve Young just lofts it up there, Jerry gets it and he's gone. I'm trying to perfect that route because he runs it so smooth. That's the kind of stuff I've been working on."