Except for ‘few bumps in the road,' T.O. OK by 'Boys
By Steve Patton
Reading Eagle
PHILADELPHIA Now that he's had the chance to deal with Terrell Owens for most of a full season, Cowboys coach Bill Parcells can give this endorsement of the temperamental wide receiver:
“It's kind of been OK,” said Parcells, whom some reports indicated was less than thrilled to have Owens on his roster. “That's what I'll say. It's my job to try to make it work.”
For the most part, it has worked. Although he has had a couple of well-publicized on- and off-field incidents during his time with the Cowboys, Owens has also been a very productive player. He leads Dallas with 77 catches for 1,040 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games.
Those numbers are almost identical to what Owens produced in his first season with the Eagles in 2004, catching 77 passes for 1,200 yards and a team-record 14 TDs in 14 games.
But it was what happened after that season, when Owens came back from a late-season ankle injury to play in the Super Bowl, that prompted his exit from Philadelphia after the next season, when he was suspended and then kicked off the team.
Parcells was aware of the problems Owens had in Philadelphia, but said he tried to handle the situation as best he could.
“I approached it with this philosophy: It's my job to make it work, if I can,” said Parcells. “It's not been without a few bumps in the road, as I'm sure the people in Philadelphia can attest to.
“It'd be easy to go in there with a negative attitude and say, ‘Hey, I can't do this.' But nothing was going to be accomplished by that, so I've tried the best I can do make everything work.”
Parcells said Owens has had few problems with his teammates, once both sides got to spend some time with the other.
“The players had to get to know him, too, and see what's what,” said Parcells. “I think everybody kind of had their periscope a little bit.
“But by and large, I think everybody kind of gets along. I've got some good kids on the team as far as their personalities. I don't have a lot of flamboyant characters. They're pretty solid guys, so I think they see things for what they are and we try to make the best of it.”
Owens has launched attacks on the last two quarterbacks who threw to him: ex-49ers starter Jeff Garcia, now the Eagles starter, and Donovan McNabb. But Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said he didn't allow that to shape his impression of Owens.
“I'm a guy who only deals with people the way they deal with me,” said Romo. “I don't look at people's history or the past because I don't know the circumstances or the situations they were in. It's the same thing with him. I don't know how anything went down in the past.
“All I know is the T.O. that I deal with on a daily basis, and that's a guy I like and I enjoy being around and we talk football all the time. The guy wants to get better and he wants to win, and that's no different than the way I play the game.”
Which, said Parcells, is all he wants from Owens.
“He's doing OK,” said Parcells. “He really is. Not without a few problems here and there, but he's doing OK.”
No go on T.O.: While Cowboys coach Bill Parcells was willing to give his thoughts on dealing with Terrell Owens, Eagles quarterback Jeff Garcia had little to say on the subject.
Garcia, who had a fractured relationship with Owens when both were with the 49ers and was the target of barbs from the wide receiver in 2004 after both had left San Francisco, said the chance to play against Owens Monday doesn't matter to him.
“It's the next big game for us,” said Garcia. “It's a game that we're excited about playing. It's an awesome opportunity that we basically forced ourselves back into with persevering and doing the things we needed to do the last three, four weeks in order to become a better football team.
“Now we have an excellent opportunity on our hands with the game Monday night in Dallas, and that's really how I look at it. I don't look at it for anything else.”
Injury update: Cornerback William James (calf) and safety Michael Lewis (knee sprain) missed practice Wednesday. James is listed as doubtful. Lewis is questionable, as is linebacker Shawn Barber, who practiced after missing the game against the Giants Sunday.
Reading Eagle
PHILADELPHIA Now that he's had the chance to deal with Terrell Owens for most of a full season, Cowboys coach Bill Parcells can give this endorsement of the temperamental wide receiver:
“It's kind of been OK,” said Parcells, whom some reports indicated was less than thrilled to have Owens on his roster. “That's what I'll say. It's my job to try to make it work.”
For the most part, it has worked. Although he has had a couple of well-publicized on- and off-field incidents during his time with the Cowboys, Owens has also been a very productive player. He leads Dallas with 77 catches for 1,040 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games.
Those numbers are almost identical to what Owens produced in his first season with the Eagles in 2004, catching 77 passes for 1,200 yards and a team-record 14 TDs in 14 games.
But it was what happened after that season, when Owens came back from a late-season ankle injury to play in the Super Bowl, that prompted his exit from Philadelphia after the next season, when he was suspended and then kicked off the team.
Parcells was aware of the problems Owens had in Philadelphia, but said he tried to handle the situation as best he could.
“I approached it with this philosophy: It's my job to make it work, if I can,” said Parcells. “It's not been without a few bumps in the road, as I'm sure the people in Philadelphia can attest to.
“It'd be easy to go in there with a negative attitude and say, ‘Hey, I can't do this.' But nothing was going to be accomplished by that, so I've tried the best I can do make everything work.”
Parcells said Owens has had few problems with his teammates, once both sides got to spend some time with the other.
“The players had to get to know him, too, and see what's what,” said Parcells. “I think everybody kind of had their periscope a little bit.
“But by and large, I think everybody kind of gets along. I've got some good kids on the team as far as their personalities. I don't have a lot of flamboyant characters. They're pretty solid guys, so I think they see things for what they are and we try to make the best of it.”
Owens has launched attacks on the last two quarterbacks who threw to him: ex-49ers starter Jeff Garcia, now the Eagles starter, and Donovan McNabb. But Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said he didn't allow that to shape his impression of Owens.
“I'm a guy who only deals with people the way they deal with me,” said Romo. “I don't look at people's history or the past because I don't know the circumstances or the situations they were in. It's the same thing with him. I don't know how anything went down in the past.
“All I know is the T.O. that I deal with on a daily basis, and that's a guy I like and I enjoy being around and we talk football all the time. The guy wants to get better and he wants to win, and that's no different than the way I play the game.”
Which, said Parcells, is all he wants from Owens.
“He's doing OK,” said Parcells. “He really is. Not without a few problems here and there, but he's doing OK.”
No go on T.O.: While Cowboys coach Bill Parcells was willing to give his thoughts on dealing with Terrell Owens, Eagles quarterback Jeff Garcia had little to say on the subject.
Garcia, who had a fractured relationship with Owens when both were with the 49ers and was the target of barbs from the wide receiver in 2004 after both had left San Francisco, said the chance to play against Owens Monday doesn't matter to him.
“It's the next big game for us,” said Garcia. “It's a game that we're excited about playing. It's an awesome opportunity that we basically forced ourselves back into with persevering and doing the things we needed to do the last three, four weeks in order to become a better football team.
“Now we have an excellent opportunity on our hands with the game Monday night in Dallas, and that's really how I look at it. I don't look at it for anything else.”
Injury update: Cornerback William James (calf) and safety Michael Lewis (knee sprain) missed practice Wednesday. James is listed as doubtful. Lewis is questionable, as is linebacker Shawn Barber, who practiced after missing the game against the Giants Sunday.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:05 PM
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