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FRISCO, Texas -- Dez Bryant smiled as he looked down at his phone and listened to reporters offer ideas for how the Dallas Cowboys could get their top receiver the ball more often.Without looking up, the 2014 All-Pro pointed outside the locker room, playfully suggesting that the issue should be taken up with coaches whose offices are now a floor above the players at the teams new practice facility.A few years ago, Bryant might not have been in such a good mood after catching just one pass in a season-opening loss.Heading into a Week 2 visit to Washington on Sunday, hes trying to act more as if hes the dean of Dallas receivers, which he is, and less like the fiery young receiver who sometimes lost control on the sideline.Its just understanding, understanding what theyre trying to do, said Bryant, whose catch went for 8 yards in a 20-19 loss to the New York Giants.Whatever the coaches give me, thats what Im going to do. Im not going to get too involved, get my emotions too high, or too low. Im just going to stay prepared and ready at any moment.Part of the understanding is that Bryant is working with a rookie quarterback in Dak Prescott after 13-year veteran and 10-year starter Tony Romo broke a bone in his back in a preseason game.And it wasnt as if Prescott ignored his top threat in his first regular-season game. Bryant had a 24-yard touchdown overturned on review, and another long pass into the end zone was broken up.The numbers stick out, though. Bryant was targeted five times compared to 26 combined for tight end Jason Witten and slot receiver Cole Beasley.Witten had nine catches and Beasley eight. Its also somewhat startling to note that Bryants looks were limited despite being on the field for 75 snaps.Thats our guy, he needs catches, Prescott said.He had some balls thrown at him, he wants to bring down and hed say it himself he wants to bring that touchdown, make that play. I think if he has that, regardless of two catches or not, he has a touchdown and I dont know if were still talking about this.Prescott needed 25 completions (on 45 attempts) to get 227 yards, and coach Jason Garrett said he missed a few chances to get the ball down the field.Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan also pointed out that on the deep throw to Bryant that was broken up in the end zone, Witten was open across the middle.Youve got to be careful of that, Linehan said. Certain receivers and certain players are open when theyre not wide open, right? Were fairly aware of Dezs ability to catch and jump and do all those things. So well continue to work on that.Linehan gave Prescott high marks for his debut, and Bryant has gone out of his way to praise the 23-year-old since before Romos latest back injury. So its safe to say Bryant didnt see Prescott as the problem in Week 1.I dont like using rookie as an excuse because its not, Bryant said. But at the same time it was his first NFL game. I think he did a hell of a job and hes going to continue getting better. Were just going to keep pushing and stay behind him and be ready when he needs us.It wont get easier this week with Washington cornerback Josh Norman likely lined up against Bryant most if not all game. The previous time these two saw each other, Bryant was held to two catches for 26 yards in Carolinas 33-14 rout of the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.Bryant was still plagued by a foot he broke in the opener last year, and he dealt with ankle issues most of the season as well.Now hes healthy.Im not going to get into that, Bryant said. I feel good. Were going to have fun.Game notes CB Orlando Scandrick was held out of practice with a hamstring injury Thursday. He did practice Wednesday. Scandrick, who missed the 2015 season with a knee injury, was sidelined briefly in the opener with a hamstring problem.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apschuyler Morgan Brian Jersey . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros. Sydney Leroux USA Jersey . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. http://www.officialsocceruswntshop.com/mccall-zerboni-usa-jersey/ . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Kelley OHara USA Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Allie Long Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. TORONTO -- And so we begin.The first World Cup of Hockey in a dozen years is set to open to all kinds of bells and whistles Saturday in the center of Canadas hockey universe: Toronto.Eight teams, representing six countries and two continents, and the largest collection of NHL talent ever assembled in one tournament are set to try to put the World Cup of Hockey back on the international hockey radar.Consider this: Of the 184 players on the eight rosters, 169 played in the NHL last season. Two others, Team North Americas Auston Matthews and Finlands Patrik Laine, went Nos. 1 and 2 in last Junes draft and are likely to play in the NHL this season.The players in the tournament, jointly organized by the NHL and the National Hockey League Players Association, have combined to play 73,299 NHL regular-season games and have a total of 47 Stanley Cup championships to their credit.The Tampa Bay Lightning leads all NHL teams with 12 players taking part, with representatives on seven of the eight teams. It would have been 13 if Ryan Callahan?hadnt withdrawn from Team USA because of injury. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is also an associate coach with Team North America.Speaking of Team North America, it has quickly become the darling of the tournament. Many believe the collection of highly skilled players from Canada and the United States under the age of 24 has the goods to advance to the elimination portion of the tournament.Team North America features a bevy of players who represent the future of the game, including team captain Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers and Jack Eichel?of the?Buffalo Sabres.?The duo represents the top two picks in the 2015 draft. McDavid, 19, has been hailed as the greatest young talent to join the NHL since Sidney Crosby arrived more than a decade ago.And though Team North America is young, it does boast a two-time Stanley Cup winner in Brandon Saad of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and goalie?Matt Murray, who backstopped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Cup win in June.The tournament will start with two four-team pools in round-robin play (Canada, United States, Czech Republic and Europe make up Group A; Sweden, Finland, Russia and North America are in Group B). The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, with the No. 1 teams playing the second-place teams from the opposite pool. The winners of those one-game semifinals will meet in the best-of-three finals.Pool play begins Saturday with Team USA taking on Team Europe (3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2), another hybrid team featuring players from non-competing European nations. Team Canada?opens against the Czech Republic on Saturday (8 p.m. on ESPNEWS).The preliminary round will follow standard NHL regular-season protocol. IIf a score is tied at the end of regulation, there will be a five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime.dddddddddddd If nobody scores in OT, the game will be decided by a shootout. Teams will accumulate two points for a win of any kind and one point for an overtime or shootout loss. Regulation wins are favorable because they will factor into the tiebreaking process used to determine which teams advance to the elimination round in the event teams are tied in points after the three preliminary games.NHL playoff rules will come into effect in the semifinals and final, with overtime games played 5-on-5 until a resolution, regardless of how long that might take.Heading into the games, there are plenty of storylines to watch.The host Canadians will be without Jeff Carter, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Duncan Keith, all of whom withdrew because of injury. Guess what? It doesnt matter. The Canadians are loaded, and they are led by Pittsburghs Crosby, who is coming off his second Stanley Cup run, and Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price, who is attempting to return from a core body injury that cost him most of last season.The biggest decisions facing Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock might be about whom to scratch for each game because one goalie, one defenseman and one forward from each teams 23-man roster will not dress.The Swedes are as complete a team as there is in the tournament, even though they will be without Henrik Zetterberg and Alexander Steen. The Russians, led by Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Crosbys longtime teammate Evgeni Malkin, are explosive.Team Europe, whose players represent eight European nations not included otherwise, got off to a rocky start before rebounding to win their final pretournament game over Sweden. Europe is noteworthy for, among other things, completing the eighth father-son combination to take part in Canada Cup/World Cup of Hockey competition. Skilled Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl follows his father, Peter, who skated for Germany in the 1996 tournament.As for Team USA, its a hard-nosed, veteran group led by 2015-16 NHL scoring champion and MVP Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. Two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings will get the start in goal. Team USA, 20 years after its seminal win over Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, hopes to rebound from a disappointing showing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.?Each team played three pretournament games. If the results tell us one thing, its that no team can be fully counted out of the running. Each squad won at least one game, and none went undefeated. ' ' '