Like Sands Through the Hourglass...

tee hee hee. from profootballtalk.com

PARCELLS RUNNING OUT OF PATIENCE

As receiver Terrell Owens continues to nurse his hamstring like a doting mother coddling a 16-year-old with a raging case of the sniffles, it's becoming clearer and clearer that coach Bill Parcells is getting closer and closer to the boiling point.

"I don't know the player very well. I just have to give him the benefit of the doubt right now," Parcells said Monday, before Owens missed yet another practice due to a hamstring injury that showed no damage in an MRI. "I don't want to jeopardize him for the season. So right now I am erring on the side of caution."

Parcells isn't erring on the side of caution with receiver Terry Glenn, to whom the Tuna referred a decade ago as "she" when Glenn was missing practice time for a similar condition. This time around, Glenn is out due to blisters on his feet. When Glenn came to the practice field without pads on Monday, Parcells and Glenn reportedly engaged in an "animated" conversation.

Meanwhile, Parcells is giving Owens plenty of room. For now.

"We need to see something here pretty soon. That is the truth," Parcells said. "We need to get him into the offense. Right now, he has missed a lot of work."

Sounding less like the "player" in the player-coach relationship and more like an equal, Owens addressed the situation on Monday. "I know he wants me out there on the football field," Owens said. "And I told him, 'Bill, I want to be out there just as bad as you want me out there. It's just a situation where we all have to be patient with one another."

The problem, as we see it, is that Parcells' decision not to jump all over Owens is sending a strong message to the other guys in camp that there are two sets of rules, possibly for the first time in the Tuna's long-term coaching career. Sure, Lawrence Taylor probably got some special consideration from Parcells during his days with the Giants, but there never was an issue (that we can recall) regarding Taylor not practicing due to a seemingly mild injury that didn't affect his mobility.

And now that we've been to a couple of training camp practices, it's obvious to us that the sessions aren't always strenuous and/or demanding. At times, it seems to be more about learning the systems, not demonstrating physical superiority. Based on some of the things we've seen at camp, we're convinced that, if Owens (as he did on Monday) can run routes at full speed after practice, he can participate in the stuff that goes on during the session, too.

So what's happening here? It might just be an effort by Owens to show that he's in charge of the situation -- and we suspect that he's fully enjoying the fact that his past actions in San Fran and Philly have this era's Vince Lombardi walking on eggshells for the first time since . . . since . . . well, ever.


WHISPERS CIRCULATE REGARDING WHETHER TUNA HAS GONE SOFT

As Cowboys coach Bill Parcells apparently tries his damnedest not to create headlines by subjecting receiver Terrell Owens to the same treatment that any other player on one of his teams would experience if they missed 13 straight practices with a hamstring injury that showed up on an MRI as a bruised vagina, Parcells is the target of scuttlebutt in league circles that the Tuna has lost his teeth.

Parcells' strategy, it seems, is to give Owens plenty of room to recover from the hamstring "injury," if for no reason other than to avoid giving 99 percent of the media and all non-Cowboys fans the satisfaction of seeing the T.O. era end even before it begins.

The consequences? League insiders can't believe what they're seeing and hearing.

Here's a prime example. On Monday, Owens said, "It's just a situation where we all have to be patient with one another."

Said one league source in response: "That is a f--king joke. The coach has the final word."

On Tuesday, Owens missed practice again. And Parcells seems to be sick of talking about it. "I really don't have much to say," Parcells said. "This subject's getting a little redundant."

It is getting a little redundant, Coach. And though we freely admit that we're one of the many who'd love to see this thing blow sky high, there are only two men who push the calendar beyond February 2nd -- Owens, and you.

With each passing day in which Owens gets his way and the head coach doesn't, Parcells' authority within the locker room is undermined, and his stature around the league is diminished.