Dez Bryant is considered one of the best receivers available in the draft, but has been dogged by character questions. (AP)

WEEI.com has confirmed via a league source a report that Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant had a workout with the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Thursday.

Bryant is a 6-foot-2, 225-pound receiver who had 87 receptions for 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior in 2008, but sat out most of 2009 after the NCAA ruled him ineligible because he reportedly lied to investigators about his affiliation with Deion Sanders.

“It was a bad mistake,” Bryant acknowledged at the combine in February. “But I’m a great person. I enjoy the opportunity to make people smile. I’m good at making people smile. People that know me, they know it was a mistake. They know I’m a fun type of person and I love to have fun.”

Since then, Bryant has found himself under increased scrutiny on several issues, including what some considered a lackluster Pro Day, where he reportedly forget to bring his cleats he planned for wear for the workout and ran a 4.52 and 4.68 40-yard dash.

“The 40 is going to bother some teams. When you’re talking about an elite receiver and a potential top-10 pick, a 4.55 doesn’t always add up,” NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock told reporters who have asked about Bryant. “You say Larry Fitzgerald ran 4.50 and 4.52 at 223 pounds, but Larry Fitzgerald was 100 percent clean off the field; Dez has some issues to deal with there.”

Bryant recently compared himself to Patriots’ wide receiver Randy Moss, saying that teams that decide to pass on him — as several did with Moss in 1998 — would regret the decision.

“Any teams who don’t draft me who think I have background problems or any of that, you’re not going to draft me because of stuff that happened in my childhood? What about now? What’s been going on with Dez now? Nothing bad’s been going on with Dez. Nothing at all,” Bryant told reporters.

“Whoever passes up on me, it’s over with. I feel like I’m going through the same situation Randy Moss did,” he added. “That man had issues and teams were passing up on him, and when he got on that field, he killed them. He murdered them. Look at him today: One of the best players in the NFL.”

Bryant was recently profiled as part of WEEI.com’s “Potential Patriots” series — check that out here.