Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant is unapologetic despite receiving harsh criticisms for his outburst late in Sunday's 31-30 loss at the hands of the Detroit Lions.

Bryant, who caught everybody's attention late in the third quarter of Sunday's showdown between the Cowboys and the Lions after yelling at quarterback Tony Romo, insisted that he wasn't demanding the ball at all and instead encouraging his team to play with passion.

"Tony Romo and Jason Witten, those are our leaders," Bryant told the press via ESPN on Monday. "Those are our main guys. The reason why I'm able to voice my opinion is because those guys helped me become who I am to where I can do that. Whenever I do things, I promise y'all, man, it's all out of trying to keep our team motivated, keeping the passion, letting people know this game is important to us."

NFL.com posted a video of the heated moment between Bryant and Romo, showing the wideout having a peptalk with the Cowboys quarterback following an incomplete pass to Dwayne Harris.

"Hey, if those [expletives] press me, it's over! It's over!" He points in Romo's face to emphasize his point, then engages in a discussion about strategy with Romo.

"We're good on that, Tony!" Bryant shouted moments later. "We're the best in the NFL at that! We're the best in the NFL!"

Bryant admitted he went frustrated after seeing the Lions eat up their lead in the fourth quarter. However, he made it clear that his respects towards his teammates remained the same.

"The relationship me, Tony and Witt have, it's huge," Bryant said. "Our relationship is great. On and off the field, it's outstanding.

"I think what most people don't get is everything isn't supposed to be peaches and cream during games. There's always something that doesn't go right, the way you think it should. It's the nature of football, period.

"As far as our relationship, Witt did nothing wrong to me. Tony did nothing wrong to me. Witt loves me like if I was his little brother, Tony loves me like if I was his little brother and I love them for just being in my life, helping me change a lot in my life, helping me see different things about myself that I didn't see," Bryant said during an interview with the press via ESPN.