Newman takes charge as Owens Protector

T.O. Won't Say if He'll Play Vs. Titans


Terrell Owens sat at his locker Friday flexing his swollen right hand, smiling and saying little. After practicing for the second straight day, the Dallas Cowboys receiver seemed in good spirits and on track to play Sunday. But Owens, who will travel to Tennessee, refused to say if he would play against the Titans and reminded the media surrounding him that he talks on Wednesdays.

"You can go on and migrate around," teammate Terence Newman told reporters, standing in front of Owens and pointing to other lockers. "Thank you for coming out."

Owens had only a small bandage over the scar on his hand from surgery Sept. 18, a day after he broke a bone near his ring finger in his home debut for the Cowboys.

When asked about the swelling, Owens said, "It's gone down a lot."

Coach Bill Parcells said Owens has done everything he's been asked to do in practice this week. Still, Parcells said he hasn't decided if the receiver would play against the Titans.

"The injury status has not changed, and we're going to make some game-time decisions as to who's going to participate," said Parcells, who will talk to trainers Saturday.

He hadn't sat down with Owens yet, but the coach said he "would have time to do that."

Owens could play at the end of a week in which he was hospitalized for mixing painkillers prescribed for his hand injury with his usual supplements, then had to deny a police report that he had attempted suicide. On Thursday, Dallas police closed their investigation, calling it an "accidental overdose."

Now, Owens might not even miss a game, despite having a metal plate screwed into the bone he broke Sept. 17 against the Washington Redskins. The Cowboys had a bye last weekend.

Within hours after he left the hospital Wednesday, Owens was on the field catching passes from Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo. He returned to practice with the full team Thursday.

The finger didn't appear to bother Owens during the 15 minutes of practice open to the media Friday. Wearing receiving gloves with padding protecting the injury, he caught balls with his hands in front of his body, and readjusted on one pass over his shoulder to make a fingertip catch in the back of the end zone during a drill.

Generally, players who practice Thursday and Friday for Parcells are available for games.

So, why wouldn't Owens play Sunday?

"Just if I thought there was an inordinate number of mental errors or something that didn't look like he was up to speed for the game," Parcells said.

The coach wouldn't say if Owens had had any such problems.

"I'm not commenting on that, what I think about that," Parcells said. "You're going to have to wait."

Parcells said he wasn't qualified to offer a public opinion on the off-the-field drama surrounding Owens and stopped short of calling it a distraction.

"We're a little early in the season to be passing judgment on what's going to happen," Parcells said. "I think we need to let these guys go forward and settle down to a little more normal pace. Hopefully we'll get good production out of everybody and go forward from there. That's what I'm hoping we do."