ARLINGTON, Texas — Patrick Crayton lost two jobs in two weeks.
Benched as punt returner. Benched as No. 2 wideout.

Overall bench-slapped and embarrassed by a coach who never bench-slaps or embarrasses anybody. To further add insult to injury, Crayton may or may not have been told of these developments.
Cowboys say he was. Crayton says he wasn’t.
The truth is he kind of was, but not in the way these things are handled by coaches named Belichick or Tomlin. Man to man. Straight truth. Delivery aside, though, give Coach Wade props for finally getting “more whatever.”
As we saw in Sunday’s 37-21 Cowboys victory against a much-hyped Atlanta team, a good bench-slapping never hurt anybody and oftentimes helps get your underachievers going, which helps get your team going.
And let’s be clear: Crayton deserved to be benched.
He also deserves big props for his response. He caught a huge touchdown pass, when Sunday’s game remained very much in doubt, and returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown to wrap this baby up.
“You start off (ticked), whether it is at yourself or somebody else,” Crayton said. “At the end of the day, you look at yourself and ’OK, let’s do some things a little bit better. Let’s work a little bit harder. Let’s concentrate and focus a little bit more.”’
Before any smart butts chime in and say, well, he needed to be doing so all along, imagine if this had been T.O. He’d still be screaming and pouting and admitting zero fault.
Was benching even a possibility with him? Who knows.
What is for sure is there was two ways to go in this, and Crayton zigged when T.O. would have zagged. He handled his demotions like a pro, a little media whine, then went about his business.
“I’ve dealt with way worse,” eternally patient Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman said when asked how Crayton’s anger manifested itself. “He wasn’t going into a rage. It was a controlled emotion. He might have said it, but he kept his feelings in check. He wasn’t belligerent. He was (ticked) off but he worked.”
He prepared himself just in case. And with 15 seconds remaining before halftime and Dallas clinging to a 10-7 lead, just in case happened.
It was first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. The Cowboys did not have any timeouts, and the pocket started collapsing around QB Tony Romo almost immediately after he took the snap. It looked like sack for sure and hustle for another play.
“When I turn around and see the first time, I’m thinking ’God dang it.’ Then all of the sudden, he pops up and I see a ’9’ come out and I’m like ’I’m open, I’m open, I’m open,’ “ Crayton said.
It was vintage Romo being Romo. He looked so much like himself Sunday, using his feet and creating and just making plays. Of course, he needed to have a receiver going with him, and Crayton was.
“I know you’ve got to stay alive,” Crayton said, “I know what kind of quarterback we’ve got.”
And Crayton reminded a lot of Cowboy Nation what he’s all about, too. He had kind of become an enigma since his screw-up in that Giants game and his supporting role in all of T.O.’s shenanigans. And his play had not been all that spectacular this season.
He had been OK as a receiver, not as good as Miles Austin, not as disappointing as Roy Williams. Frankly, he had stunk as a punt returner.
His failings in that area were why Allen Rossum was signed and returning Atlanta’s first punt Sunday. He did not return for No. 2 after taking a nasty lick. And Crayton responded to his unbenching by going 73 for a TD.
So can benching a player be used to get a guy going? And if so, why has this not been tried on Flozell Adams? Or Anthony Spencer? Or any number of the Cowboys’ underachievers?
“Depends on the guy,” Coach Wade said.
I am not sure Crayton takes any pleasure in being deemed capable of handling such indignities, or being the first player ever to land in Wade’s mythical doghouse. I guess, technically, you can say cornerback Orlando Scandrick has been benched as rotating starter.
Crayton was the first one to really be bench-slapped, certainly by this administration.
“Somebody has to be the guinea pig, I guess,” Crayton said.
Let’s just hope the lesson was learned by Coach Wade and everybody at Valley Ranch. This is what good coaches do. They tick players off from time to time. They play the guys who are playing best. They bench the ones who aren’t, in hopes of getting them going.
In fact, if they were being real at Valley Ranch this week, they’d start Austin and Crayton against Seattle. Williams, by his own admission, “was the one who played terrible” against Atlanta.
Of course, that is not likely to happen.
Too much was given up for him. Too much ego involved.
So will Crayton at least get one of his jobs back?
“I don’t know,” Crayton said. “Look for me and see if I play next week.”
He should. It’s time to bench-slap somebody else.