Hey Patler: Cowboys fine Owens for absences

[woodbuck27]

Patler...I bow to YOU.

I kiss your ring. I humble myself in YOUR Exaltedness. Your good instinct.

I'm today eating... "some of...your plate of crow ".. pour moi. :mrgreen:


Report: Cowboys fine Owens for absences

NFL.com wire reports:

IRVING, Texas (Aug. 27, 2006) --

Terrell Owens has finally pushed the Dallas Cowboys too far, drawing a $9,500 fine for missing a team meeting and a rehabilitation session and being late to an offensive meeting, The Dallas Morning News reported.

"That's our club business. That's going to be accounted for," team owner Jerry Jones told the newspaper.

The incidents occurred Aug. 24, the team's final day preparing for a preseason game against San Francisco. The Cowboys beat the 49ers 17-7, making them 3-0 this preseason without Owens playing any of the games because of a hamstring injury that's also kept him out of 19 of 31 practices since the start of training camp.

Neither team officials nor Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, immediately returned calls to The Associated Press seeking comment.

During a postgame television interview, Jones did not mention the fine but answered several other questions about Owens. Jones said his only concern with the receiver is

"injury, not all this other stuff you hear about."

Owens' past is filled with run-ins with quarterbacks, coaches and others in his own organization. San Francisco and Philadelphia got rid of him, but the Cowboys welcomed him with open arms and a lucrative contract in March, four days after the Eagles released him.

Owens vowed to be a better man and a better teammate in Dallas. While the fine is the most drastic, he already has done plenty to stand out.

He missed much of the offseason training program -- with permission -- and turned his hamstring injury into an attention-getter by flying in specialists to help him rehabilitate and wearing a cycling team outfit one day while pedaling a stationary bicycle.

After returning to practice for several days, coach Bill Parcells ruled him out of a Monday night game and Owens hasn't practiced since.

He said he aggravated the injury because the club pushed him too hard. When Parcells said this week that he needs to see Owens on the field,

T.O. responded that there's 10 years of tape to show what he can do.

Jones seemed to downplay the drama surrounding Owens' injury by noting that Carolina's Steve Smith and Pittsburgh's Hines Ward also have been slowed by hamstring injuries without drawing the same scrutiny as Owens.

He also recalled Deion Sanders' ability to play well after flying in from baseball games and missing long stretches of practice.

"I know this -- when he's healthy, he's going to help us win these ballgames," Jones said.

The Cowboys play their final preseason game Aug. 31 at home against Minnesota. The opener is Sept. 10 at Jacksonville.

[digitaldean]

I had to rib my friend who's a diehard Cowboys fan.

He's so PO'd that he wants Owens and Vanderjagt on the first bus out of town! :lol:

So we see how great of teammate he would've been in GB, eh?

[woodbuck27]

T.O. on being tardy, fined: 'I overslept'

NFL.com wire reports

IRVING, Texas (Aug. 28, 2006) -- Terrell Owens overslept. That's it.

He insists he wasn't late for work to send a messages to his bosses, test his boundaries or anything else his critics might think.

And, get this: He says it'll probably happen again, even if he was fined $9,500.

"I think everybody has overslept, you know, once or twice in their life,"

Owens said, more amused than angry that a fuss is being made over something that's happened to him before, though not since he's joined the Cowboys.

"It's not a big deal," he said. "It was not something I purposely tried to do. It's something that I will try to make more of an effort, a better effort, to get here on time. Other than that, it's really not a big issue."

Jerry Jones agrees, pointing out that some of the most upstanding citizens in team history were fined for similar transgressions.

He also insisted it's a mistake to read more into Owens' tardiness, the fine and his lingering hamstring issue simply because of T.O.'s past.

"From my standpoint, it's all good," Jones said.

"Apart from him not being on the field and getting repetitions, has it in any way affected relationships on this team, teammates on this team, relationships between me and Bill, me and the coaching staff, Terrell and Bill, Terrell and the coaching staff? Zero impact there."

Owens called his tardiness "very unfortunate" and apologized to his teammates. But, he added, "I've got to move on. I can't let this get me down."

His tender hamstring is taking care of that.

Owens missed his 20th workout of the preseason and is unlikely to play at home against Minnesota.

The bigger question is whether he'll play the season opener in Jacksonville.

"I feel like I'm doing above and beyond things to get back on the field, whether a lot of people know that or not," he said.

"I'm doing everything. Sometimes I come in here late at night just doing extra treatment, getting in the hot tub, cold tub. ... I think it's sometimes unfair that I'm getting all this criticism because I'm hurt."

Whether Owens plays in the opener will depend on when he starts practicing. If he never practices, he definitely won't play the opener -- even if Jones has mentioned that Deion Sanders used to get away it.

Parcells said he has to see what Owens can do. And he's not talking about watching highlights from the last 10 years, as Owens suggested last week.

"What if he got hurt or didn't perform, what would happen then?" Parcells said.

"How would I know he is healthy if he didn't practice? How would I know?"

Jones said he lets Parcells decide who to play.

"That's an area I probably could influence, but, no, I have never influenced in my 17 years with the Cowboys as far as who goes in the game and who doesn't and what time they go into the game," Jones said.

Jones and Parcells declined to comment specifically about the fine, saying it's an internal matter. Jones went so far as to say he'd fire whoever leaked the news, "I don't care who it is."

Yet Parcells knew he'd be asked about it, especially when he walked in for his usual news conference and saw more reporters than normal. He sat down, smiled and said, "Is this the Cuban missile crisis today?"

"I know what you're all waiting for," Parcells said, "and it's going to be in vain."

Parcells said he's known since the day Owens signed that, as the coach, he'd have to deal with all sorts of additional headaches, legitimate or not. But he's not going to let "all those chatterboxes" change the way he runs his team.

"I'm going to do what I think is best for the Dallas Cowboys," he said.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/stoshuaj/queeereyeparcells.jpg

"Whatever opinion anyone else has is totally irrelevant to my line of thinking because they don't have all the facts, and I do. So I operate from a position of advantage. I consider the team itself, the coaching staff, what we're trying to do here. I consider things you people don't even think of."

Parcells also had a message to players who question what Owens may or may not be getting away with.

"Them players need to worry about themselves, their job and what they are doing," he said.

"There are some that have been with me that know. Then there are others, they are going to have to learn."

Just to clarify, Parcells said Owens "hasn't been a problem at all."

Still, it's clear that Parcells and Owens either have no relationship or a fragile one. Even T.O. admitted, "I wouldn't say our relationship is where it needs to be."

"But I think it's a building process for the both of us," Owens said.

"It's obviously a work in progress. At this point, there is no tension between us."

At this point.


Comment:

Well. What can all this mean? :mrgreen:

Patler:

T.O. won't be on my Fantasy Football team, unless he's falling ...falling....

Well. Let me sleep on it. :mrgreen:

[Patler]

Hey Woodbuck;

Some things really do not ever change.

Owens will make great plays.
Owens will give everything he has during a game.
Owens will be a lockerroom distraction.
Owens will be a coach's nightmare.

[BallHawk]

Hey Woodbuck;

Some things really do not ever change.

Owens will make great plays.
Owens will give everything he has during a game.
Owens will be a lockerroom distraction.
Owens will be a coach's nightmare.

Well said.

[woodbuck27]

Hey Woodbuck;

Some things really do not ever change.

Owens will make great plays.
Owens will give everything he has during a game.
Owens will be a lockerroom distraction.
Owens will be a coach's nightmare.

Patler:

I would really place myself at negative odds for an assured +ve result... if I picked him for FF.

but Boy Oh Boy... what an upside.

" Some things really do not ever change." Patler

That statement is valid. :mrgreen:

GO PACK GO ! FAN FAITH for 2006 and Beyond !!

[Patler]

Hey Woodbuck;

Some things really do not ever change.

Owens will make great plays.
Owens will give everything he has during a game.
Owens will be a lockerroom distraction.
Owens will be a coach's nightmare.

Patler:

I would really place myself at negative odds for an assured +ve result... if I picked him for FF.

but Boy Oh Boy... what an upside.

" Some things really do not ever change." Patler

That statement is valid. :mrgreen:

GO PACK GO ! FAN FAITH for 2006 and Beyond !!

For a team that is only a play-making wide receiver away from a legitimate playoff run, or one that is already a contender, Owens might be worth a chance. For a team with more needs than that, in my opinion he is not worth the distractions. The Packers fall in the second category.

[woodbuck27]

Hey Woodbuck;

Some things really do not ever change.

Owens will make great plays.
Owens will give everything he has during a game.
Owens will be a lockerroom distraction.
Owens will be a coach's nightmare.

Patler:

I would really place myself at negative odds for an assured +ve result... if I picked him for FF.

but Boy Oh Boy... what an upside.

" Some things really do not ever change." Patler

That statement is valid. :mrgreen:

GO PACK GO ! FAN FAITH for 2006 and Beyond !!

For a team that is only a play-making wide receiver away from a legitimate playoff run, or one that is already a contender, Owens might be worth a chance. For a team with more needs than that, in my opinion he is not worth the distractions. The Packers fall in the second category.

Patler:

You know full well, why I wanted T.O. in Green Bay this Season...Right? :mrgreen:

I'm going to watch this problematic yet extremely talented WR all season very closely, and post "the schitt on him" in this thread.

[woodbuck27]

He's BACK ! woodbuck27

T.O. returns to Cowboys practice

NFL.com wire reports

IRVING, Texas (Aug. 29, 2006) -- Terrell Owens practiced for the first time in 10 days, an indication he's getting over his hamstring injury and is heading toward his debut with the Dallas Cowboys.

Next question: Will it be in the preseason finale at home against Minnesota? Or the season opener a week from Sunday at Jacksonville?

Considering the safe-not-sorry approach everyone involved has been preaching, Owens is likely to be held out until the opener.

However, he has so much catching up to do there's a chance he could be used for a series or two in the preseason finale.

Neither Owens nor coach Bill Parcells were available for comment after a team spokesman announced that Owens participated in an afternoon workout that was closed to reporters.

Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, also did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Owens hurt his left hamstring the first week of training camp and missed 14 straight workouts. He practiced five straight times, then aggravated the injury and shut himself down after a morning workout Aug. 19.

Owens was fined $9,500 for being late to meetings and a rehabilitation session Friday. He said that he overslept.

The Cowboys are 3-0 this preseason without Owens, with fellow receiver Terry Glenn repeatedly making big plays.