If you listened to Cowboys coach Wade Phillips today, you'd think receiver Terrell Owens (high left ankle sprain) had about a 50-50 shot of playing in Sunday's divisional playoff game against the Giants.
Phillips said he's worried that playing T.O. against the Giants might affect his status for the rest of the playoffs, and called him a "game-time decision."
"He's still limping some," Phillips said. "There's a dilemma there, certainly, in what percentage he's going to be healthy."
Early in his Monday news conference Phillips said that T.O. did not practice, but that contradicted what his players had said only minutes before. Some of them claimed to have seen Owens running routes in what amounted to a walk-through practice.
"It was a limp-through for him," Phillips joked, "and a walk-through for us."
Phillips has a history of botching injury reports, and he admitted as much Monday.
"I just don't have a feel for injuries," Phillips said. "I just can't tell you exactly when he's gonna be ready."
No, but I think he has a pretty good idea. Phillips talked about how coaches would have to come up with two different offensive game plans this week with T.O.'s status up in the air. He also said that Terry Glenn practiced today and could receive extensive playing time against the Giants.
What I heard during the news conference was old-fashioned gamesmanship.
Phillips knows T.O.'s going to be ready to play, but he'll try to keep this injury storyline going as long as he can.
With T.O., the Cowboys should take care of the Giants at home this Sunday. Without him, this is a pick'em game. The Cowboys can't afford to rest Owens in hopes of having him at full strength for the NFC Championship game.
So here's what I suggest: Ignore everything Wade says about T.O.'s injury the rest of the week. After all, this is the same guy who claimed that he wasn't aware of quarterback Tony Romo's thumb injury in the second half of the Philadelphia game last month.
T.O. was spotted in the training room Monday, but he didn't speak to reporters. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Receiver Patrick Crayton, defensive end Greg Ellis, safety Ken Hamlin and tight end Jason Witten were the only Cowboys who talked.
The most interesting thing I encountered in the locker room was a huge statue of a lion sitting in front of center Andre Gurode's locker. I'll see if I can get to the bottom of that before the day is over.
By the way, I've talked to a member of Team T.O., and his trusty hyperbaric chamber has been in use constantly over the last week. It's also great to know that he's reunited with his personal trainer/part-time roomie Buddy Primm after a falling out last season.
