Per PFT (I know it's a rag); so just don't kill the messenger; here are two articles that you should take with a heavy dose of salt.
http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
1st
INJURY MIGHT TIE TUNA'S HANDS
A league source raised with us on Tuesday night a great point -- and one of our readers echoed it this morning.
To the extent that the Cowboys would contemplate dumping Owens and his $5 million salary before it becomes fully guaranteed on the first weekend of the regular season, the fact that Owens has a hamstring injury that he claims was aggravated by a premature return to practice would result in either an injury settlement or a grievance, if he is cut before he is completely healed.
And maybe that's why (as we reported early Sunday) Owens is taking the position that he might not be 100 percent until the second week of the regular season, since even one game check obtained is worth nearly $300,000.
In fact, the recent statement by Jerry Jones that Owens might have another MRI on his hamstring could be part of a plan by the team to ensure that he's technically "healthy" before they make a final decision as to whether having T.O. and the intense media scrutiny that he attracts for the full course of a 17-week season is worth the headache.
We're not saying that they will let him go. But it would be stoopid not to at least consider it, given what has transpired over the past few weeks.
Meanwhile, kudos to the reader who pointed out to us this morning that, while Owens has missed 15 practices and counting with a "serious" hamstring pull that has yet to show any damage on an MRI, safety Keith Davis has been going strong despite having a bullet in his leg.
2nd
NEWS FLASH: T.O. MISSES PRACTICE AGAIN
In a move that, based on information we picked up on Saturday night, hardly can be called a surprise, Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens did not practice with the team on Wednesday, explaining that his hamstring injury was aggravated last week.
On Sunday, agent Drew Rosenhaus appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter, and spoke of the "serious" injury in the present tense, even though Owens had participated in five straight practices before missing Saturday afternoon's session.
"It's frustrating, but it's not where I need it to be to play and perform like I need to," Owens said Wednesday, according to the AP. "So at this point, I'm going to be smart about it." Owens also added that, if it were the regular season, he would not be able to play.
We reported early Sunday morning that Owens was claiming that he had re-injured his hamstring, and that he blamed the aggravation on the fact that he was pressured to return to practice. Michael Silver of Sports Illustrated reported last week that Owens' return to practice came after coach Bill Parcells advised the training staff on Tuesday that T.O. will participate on Wednesday.
Though we stand by our report that Owens privately attributed the re-injury to his premature return to practice, Owens is still saying all of the right things when he realizes that his words might end up in print: "I felt like I was never pressured to get back on the field. I just tried to compromise with some people, just try to be around the team and get back out there," Owens said. "It just flared up again."
So who would he even be in a position to "compromise" with regarding a return to practice? In our view, it was either Parcells or owner Jerry Jones, who had advised Owens that he needed to learn how to practice at 75 percent.
And inherent in the term "compromise" is the reality that Owens did something he didn't want to do. He wanted to sit out until he believed he was 100 percent; Parcells and Jones wanted to handle it differently. Now, with Owens likely to stay on the sidelines until he's personally convinced that he truly is at 100 percent, the stage is set for the long-awaited eruption of Mt. Tuna.
