Antonio Bryant has been a bit demonstrative at points in this still young NFL season. Looking for teammates — especially QBs — who hate him, though, has proven difficult.

You call David Priestly, a quarterback at the University of Pittsburgh in 1999-2001. He recalls that Bryant would frequently come back to the huddle complaining that he was open. Other receivers did that, too, but there was a difference with Bryant.

“He was almost always right,” Priestly said. “I played with some pretty good Division I receivers and Antonio was by far the smartest. He watched a ton of tape, he prepared hard — and he expected a lot of you.”

There were some plays when Priestly thought Bryant was wrong. The quarterback would read the cues, react to the coverage properly and throw to the opposite side of Bryant.

But later, in the film room, Priestly would see what Bryant had seen: a fallen defender, a broken coverage or some other quirk that allowed the receiver to slip free.

“Did I get mad at times? Sure I did,” Priestly said of those heat-of-the-huddle moments. “I think any time you play with guys who are intense, that’s going to happen. But it’s up to the quarterback to keep a level head in those situations. What the job comes down to is getting the ball into the hands of the playmaker.

“And if we were winning, Antonio wouldn’t say a word even if he wasn’t getting the ball. He was incredibly smart, a rare breed.”

Stanford HC Walt Harris also has good things to say about Bryant. It seems that there is some quality in Bryant, that T.O. lacks (along with not attempting suicide???) that at least keeps his relationship with teammates and QBs in better shape. Even when he seems to be showing them up. Maybe it’s simply talking directly with the QB after calming down. Not the media. Something Owens has never comprehended.