Dez Bryant: Leaders (like me) have to be accountable

• Dez Bryant%2C once a problem%2C is now %22the man%2C%22 according to fellow receiver Miles Austin
• Says owner Jerry Jones%3A %22%22He%27s really getting into the team thing. ... He recognizes he%27s being counted on.%22

OXNARD, Calif. — There was a point this spring, as the Dallas Cowboys went through their voluntary offseason workouts, that Dez Bryant had an epiphany.

It came when younger receivers -- the rookies and second-year guys -- started seeking out Bryant for advice and asking questions about specific parts of the Cowboys offense. It felt good, Bryant said, not just to be asked, but to also know the answers.

"I view myself differently," Bryant told USA TODAY Sports. "I feel like I have to be on top of my game. I look at myself of a co-leader of this team, so I have to make sure my stuff is right, to make sure everybody else is right. I feel like the role that I'm playing – you have to be mature and you have to be accountable, and you have to hold other guys accountable too."

Wait, did Bryant say he's a leader? On a team with a veteran franchise quarterback (Tony Romo), the reigning NFL Man of the Year (Jason Witten), and an All-Pro pass rusher (DeMarcus Ware)?

Believe it.

"He's the man," receiver Miles Austin said. "He's the man. Great teammate. Nothing but good things to say about him."

Now 24, and heading into his fourth season since he was drafted at No. 24 in 2010, Bryant is trying to act, and perform, like a veteran. He had a dozen touchdown passes last year, along with 1,382 receiving yards and 92 catches, and though he won't say his individual goals, he knows that the more productive he is, the better the Cowboys will be.

"I've got to keep doing the things I'm doing, keep working hard, and not letting anything distract me," Bryant said.

Bryant has tried to keep a low profile off the field here in Oxnard. He'll sign a few autographs for kids he spots wearing his jersey, but he spends his time after practice running extra routes or in the weight room. He's declined several interview requests, and jogged past a crowd of television cameras.

It has been a remarkably drama-free offseason and preseason for Bryant, a player who always seemed to create unwanted headlines earlier in his career, from his rookie training camp when he refused to a carry veteran receiver Roy Williams' shoulder pads off the field, to his arrest on a family violence charge just before training camp last season. Charges were never filed in that incident.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has noticed a greater sense of focus from Bryant. From where Jones watches practice in a makeshift suite in a tower above the Cowboys' practice field in Oxnard, he's seen Bryant give the Dallas defense fits.

"He's really getting into the team thing, and he's really making the most of his reps," Jones said. "He recognizes that he's being counted on, and he's out there practicing responsibly."

Bryant particularly relishes the one-on-one sessions in which he lines up against starting cornerbacks Morris Claiborne or Brandon Carr. Cowboys coaches and players keep score, unofficially, in these daily practice periods, and the winner brings bragging rights back to the locker room.

With Claiborne and Carr sitting out Wednesday's practice (Claiborne has a sore knee, and Carr is excused following the recent birth of his child), Bryant had little trouble with his first shot – out-leaping cornerback Orlando Scandrick for a highlight-reel worthy touchdown. Bryant jogged out of the back of the end zone and slapped hands with some fans. As he walked back to the huddle, he muttered that he was done.

Younger Dez might have been. But the next time his name was called, Bryant ran an inside route, found some space in the back of the end zone. This time, he caught Romo's pass, but couldn't get both feet down in bounds.

"It's my favorite part of practice," Bryant said. "Going against those guys, every inch of that play matters. You have to battle for all of that play. And it's all about who comes down with the ball."

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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones