The Sports Xchange

IRVING, Texas — Defensive end Greg Hardy missed the Dallas Cowboys’ final OTA session Thursday so he could appeal his 10-game suspension by the NFL.

The hearing before arbitrator Harold Henderson lasted about seven hours with no timetable when a decision will be made.

Hardy signed with the Cowboys in March after missing all but one game in 2014 because of a domestic violence charge. The case was eventually dropped because the alleged victim failed to show for court.

But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him for 10 games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

Hardy and the NFLPA are appealing the suspension under the basis that he was punished under the new personal conduct policy rather than the old one which was in place when the alleged violation occurred.

Coach Jason Garrett will discuss the issue, but will not take sides.

“No real comment beyond just supporting him and this is part of the process that he’s going to go through in appealing this suspension,” Garrett said. “He and his representatives will handle it as well as they can and we’ll see what happens.

“The biggest thing is to handle it the right way. We’re going to try to handle it the right way as an organization and we expect him to handle it the right way as an individual player.”

–Wide receiver Dez Bryant has yet to sign his franchise tender and was not officially participating in the offseason program or OTA practices. But Bryant occasionally showed up for workouts over the last month.

“He has been in and out at different times,” said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett on Wednesday. “Obviously, he’s working on the business part of his contract, working through this franchise player tag. We’ve been in communication with him. He’s been in communication with his teammates. He seems to be in great shape whenever we’ve seen him.”

Receiver Derek Dooley said Bryant loves to practice and being around his teammates.

“Dez is a competitor, and he not only loves to play but he loves to practice. He loves being out there with the team,” he said. “I know he misses his teammates, I know he misses being here. But that’s just part of the deal, and I think everybody understands it.”

The Cowboys have until July 15 to sign Bryant to a multi-year contract before he must sign his one-year, $12.8 million franchise tender. If the deadline passes with no deal, the two parties can’t discuss a new deal until after the 2015-16 season.