T.O. Returns To Practice Field For Cowboys

SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ Terrell Owens was back at practice Thursday after a coach-ordered hiatus from workouts to rest the receiver's sore legs and hamstring. <br/><br/>Owens said he felt fine after going

Thursday, August 2nd 2007, 7:45 pm

By: News On 6

SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ Terrell Owens was back at practice Thursday after a coach-ordered hiatus from workouts to rest the receiver's sore legs and hamstring.

Owens said he felt fine after going through the Dallas Cowboys' two-hour workout, their only practice of the day.

``I feel good. Coach (Wade Phillips) was gracious enough to give me a day or so off,'' Owens said. ``It was good for me because my legs were a little sore. ... Basically, just what the coach described.''

T.O. sat out both practices on Wednesday, when Phillips said the receiver was sore, not injured. That came a day after Owens came out in his uniform for practice but was told by the coach to take it easy and not participate in drills.

While Owens didn't like sitting out, he wasn't going to argue with Phillips.

``We've been working hard and I think a lot of guys are kind of tired. But that's one of the perks of being a veteran,'' said Owens, the 33-year-old receiver going into his 12th NFL season. ``It was just a matter of me having fatigued legs.''

Owens said he might have done too much before camp, including running on the beach during a trip to Mexico right before reporting.

Phillips said Owens had good work Thursday, ``like he has since he's been here.''

At training camp last year, when Bill Parcells was still the Cowboys coach, Owens missed 14 straight practices and the first three preseason games because of a hamstring problem.

Owens doesn't expect a repeat of that, not with Phillips and receivers coach Ray Sherman monitoring how he feels.

``They told me, knowing that I went through that history of the hamstring last year in training camp, they were going to take care of me and just stay on top of it so it wouldn't be a situation like last year,'' Owens said.

Owens wanted to practice Tuesday, and remained on the field the entire time helping the other receivers. But the only ``passes'' he caught then were throws between other players and the coaches during drills.

Phillips told Owens to come out in shorts Wednesday instead of just asking him to take it easy.

``That's the thing. He took that precaution and used his best judgment because had he told me to take it easy, then I'm going to go 100 percent regardless,'' Owens said. ``For me to go 50 percent, 70 percent, that's just not my style.''