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COWBOYS NOTES
Jones: T.O. needs to practice in pain
By MAC ENGEL
SEATTLE -- The message to Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens is simple: Get used to it.
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said he has talked to some of Owens' trainers about the fact that Owens needs to get used to practice at what Jones called "75 percent."
"Terrell only knows one way: that's at 100 percent," Jones said. "As he goes on into his career, if he can consistently practice at that 75 to 80 percent [level], that will help. It's not a criticism."
Owens did not make the trip to Seattle. He remains out with a sore hamstring, and there is no timetable for his return.
This was on Profootballtalk.com
JONES TRYING TO AVERT T.O-TUNA MELTDOWN?
There's an odd item in Sunday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram regarding the potential volcano that currently is rumbling beneath the Cowboys' training camp in Oxnard.
Per Mac Engel, Cowboys owner/G.M. Jerry Jones says that he has sent a message to receiver Terrell Owens that the star receiver needs to get used to practicing at "75 percent."
It's not clear whether Owens actually got the message, since Jones communicated it to "some of Owens' trainers," an apparent reference to T.O.'s personal rehab crew that has been brought to camp to help him recover from a hamstring problem so severe that an MRI showed, well, no damage at all.
"Terrell only knows one way: that's at 100 percent," Jones said. "As he goes on into his career, if he can consistently practice at that 75 to 80 percent [level], that will help. It's not a criticism."
If it's not a criticism, what is it? It's not like Owens is a rookie who's trying to find his way in the mystical world of the NFL. He has shown in the past that, whatever happens in the preseason, he's ready to roll come September.
So why wouldn't Jones have the discussion directly with Owens? Does Jerry fear that, given T.O.'s reputation, there's no way to speak to him about the situation on a face-to-face basis without Owens presuming that he's being attacked or challenged?
And would Owens be wrong to view the "message" in such terms? The root of the situation is that Owens genuinely believes that he can't practice, and the team genuinely disagrees. Thus, the team essentially is challenging the player's assessment of his own health and condition.
Regardless, we think that the message here didn't originate with Jones, but with coach Bill Parcells. As we've recently explained, Parcells is privately telling folks "I told you so" about the decision to sign Owens, and that Parcells hates guys who won't practice or play in pain. Given, however, the intense media scrutiny of the Owens situation, and the consequences of a premature eruption of Mount Receiver-###, the Tuna realizes that he can't handle the situation in the way that he has handled similar circumstances in the past.
In that regard, Owens already has won, by forcing Parcells to alter his nature. We assumed that Parcells would be knee-deep into T.O.'s rear end come training camp, in an effort to force him to snap, if at all, before the regular season starts.
Instead, Parcells is tiptoeing around Prince Terrell, likely because the veteran coach knows in his heart that, if he unloads on Owens, the Cowboys will be right in the middle of the same problem that the Eagles experienced a year ago.
Regardless of whether the ultimate motivation is to enhance the environment for winning or to avoid giving the media and/or the Eagles the satisfaction of seeing the situation in Dallas explode, our guess in light of Jones' remarks is that Parcells is getting closer to the end of his rope, and that he's giving the guy who writes the checks one chance to get Owens onto the practice field before the Tuna takes matters into his own hands.
Thus, with the first real game only four weeks away, we stand by our belief that there's a distinct chance that, come September 10, either Owens or Parcells will not be with the team.
In this regard, keep in mind that the Cowboys will avoid any responsibility for Owens' $5 million salary if he is not on the roster when the season opens. Though the remaining $3.4 million of his $5 million signing bonus would accelerate instantly against the 2006 salary cap, the net hit would actually be a gain on $1.6 million in cap space, if Parcells ultimately insists that Owens be released -- and if Jones agrees.
We're not suggesting that such an outcome is likely or even probable at this point. But it's definitely possible, and it's significantly more possible than it was when camp in Dallas opened.
Jones: T.O. needs to practice in pain
By MAC ENGEL
SEATTLE -- The message to Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens is simple: Get used to it.
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said he has talked to some of Owens' trainers about the fact that Owens needs to get used to practice at what Jones called "75 percent."
"Terrell only knows one way: that's at 100 percent," Jones said. "As he goes on into his career, if he can consistently practice at that 75 to 80 percent [level], that will help. It's not a criticism."
Owens did not make the trip to Seattle. He remains out with a sore hamstring, and there is no timetable for his return.
This was on Profootballtalk.com
JONES TRYING TO AVERT T.O-TUNA MELTDOWN?
There's an odd item in Sunday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram regarding the potential volcano that currently is rumbling beneath the Cowboys' training camp in Oxnard.
Per Mac Engel, Cowboys owner/G.M. Jerry Jones says that he has sent a message to receiver Terrell Owens that the star receiver needs to get used to practicing at "75 percent."
It's not clear whether Owens actually got the message, since Jones communicated it to "some of Owens' trainers," an apparent reference to T.O.'s personal rehab crew that has been brought to camp to help him recover from a hamstring problem so severe that an MRI showed, well, no damage at all.
"Terrell only knows one way: that's at 100 percent," Jones said. "As he goes on into his career, if he can consistently practice at that 75 to 80 percent [level], that will help. It's not a criticism."
If it's not a criticism, what is it? It's not like Owens is a rookie who's trying to find his way in the mystical world of the NFL. He has shown in the past that, whatever happens in the preseason, he's ready to roll come September.
So why wouldn't Jones have the discussion directly with Owens? Does Jerry fear that, given T.O.'s reputation, there's no way to speak to him about the situation on a face-to-face basis without Owens presuming that he's being attacked or challenged?
And would Owens be wrong to view the "message" in such terms? The root of the situation is that Owens genuinely believes that he can't practice, and the team genuinely disagrees. Thus, the team essentially is challenging the player's assessment of his own health and condition.
Regardless, we think that the message here didn't originate with Jones, but with coach Bill Parcells. As we've recently explained, Parcells is privately telling folks "I told you so" about the decision to sign Owens, and that Parcells hates guys who won't practice or play in pain. Given, however, the intense media scrutiny of the Owens situation, and the consequences of a premature eruption of Mount Receiver-###, the Tuna realizes that he can't handle the situation in the way that he has handled similar circumstances in the past.
In that regard, Owens already has won, by forcing Parcells to alter his nature. We assumed that Parcells would be knee-deep into T.O.'s rear end come training camp, in an effort to force him to snap, if at all, before the regular season starts.
Instead, Parcells is tiptoeing around Prince Terrell, likely because the veteran coach knows in his heart that, if he unloads on Owens, the Cowboys will be right in the middle of the same problem that the Eagles experienced a year ago.
Regardless of whether the ultimate motivation is to enhance the environment for winning or to avoid giving the media and/or the Eagles the satisfaction of seeing the situation in Dallas explode, our guess in light of Jones' remarks is that Parcells is getting closer to the end of his rope, and that he's giving the guy who writes the checks one chance to get Owens onto the practice field before the Tuna takes matters into his own hands.
Thus, with the first real game only four weeks away, we stand by our belief that there's a distinct chance that, come September 10, either Owens or Parcells will not be with the team.
In this regard, keep in mind that the Cowboys will avoid any responsibility for Owens' $5 million salary if he is not on the roster when the season opens. Though the remaining $3.4 million of his $5 million signing bonus would accelerate instantly against the 2006 salary cap, the net hit would actually be a gain on $1.6 million in cap space, if Parcells ultimately insists that Owens be released -- and if Jones agrees.
We're not suggesting that such an outcome is likely or even probable at this point. But it's definitely possible, and it's significantly more possible than it was when camp in Dallas opened.
during happy hour.
