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Drama in Dallas building over Bledsoe, not T.O.

WP: The Cowboys have bought themselves a wide receiver considered to be among the very best in the NFL. Yet do they have a quarterback who can get him the ball?
Marcellus Wiley, Drew Bledsoe
Quarterback Drew Bledsoe threw three interceptions and struggled to get the ball to Terrell Owens during the Cowboys' loss to the Jaguars last Sunday.Phil Coale / AP file
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Through everything, Terrell Owens would not change. His firing from Philadelphia only emboldened his vanity until every practice this summer with his new team, the Dallas Cowboys, became a spectacle of its own, a star moving freely in his own bubble of flashbulbs and camera crews.

But if his time away from the game was supposed to make a difference, it did not. If his ailing hamstring was supposed to snatch away some of his speed and power, both were clearly there on the field Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla. There were moments when Owens still managed to shake the double-team coverage the Jaguars put on him and was left in the middle of the field — wide open. And it was clear that if Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe had only managed to complete a pass to him in those moments, his return would have been a sensational success.

Which is what the Cowboys have been dealing with in this, the week they play the Washington Redskins.

They have bought themselves a wide receiver considered to be among the very best in the NFL.

Yet do they have a quarterback who can get him the ball?

The question has been simmering around the team's headquarters since Sunday afternoon's loss to the Jaguars when Bledsoe was intercepted three times and finished with a passer rating of 45.8. Even Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells, a Bledsoe loyalist who coached the quarterback in his formative years in New England, said he thought Bledsoe made several bad decisions in the loss.

"I think that he could have played better and I hope that he will," Parcells said in his news conference Monday. "I am going to give him an opportunity to do that."

The next few weeks could be tricky for the Cowboys. Now that he has proved he is healthy and hasn't lost his ability to catch almost any pass thrown within a reasonable reach, Owens could be the dynamic piece of the Dallas offense that it has craved. At the very least, he should help create a deadly tandem with fellow wide receiver Terry Glenn, who had four catches for 80 yards on Sunday.

But is Bledsoe the right quarterback for them?

On Monday, it seemed Parcells faced more questions about backup quarterback Tony Romo than he did about Owens, which after a summer of Owens melodramas was perhaps something of a surprise. Rumors had been flying all preseason that the Cowboys were considering replacing the aging and increasingly immobile Bledsoe with Romo, who has never thrown a pass in his four-year NFL career.

The coach growled at a question about his attempts in training camp to work Romo with the starting players.

"I told you I was getting Romo ready to play so don't go making something out of this because Bledsoe is starting next Sunday," he said.

This led to the inevitable follow-up:

Ready to play when?

"I think you are trying to get me to say, 'I will put Romo in,' " Parcells said. "That time is not right now. Is that clear enough?"

Clearly it is a tense subject, especially given the way the improved Cowboys offense produced only 17 points against the Jaguars and struggled throughout the final three quarters. Parcells has tried to deflect some of the blame from Bledsoe, saying there were many players who did not have good games -- not just the quarterback -- and that Bledsoe actually engineered a few good drives in the game.

The player who has stayed out of this fray is Owens, whose feud with Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was a factor in his suspension and eventual release in Philadelphia. Many waited after the Jaguars game for Owens to explode, wondering how Bledsoe could possibly miss him while so wide open.

"It should be a confidence-builder for Drew," Owens said of the Jacksonville game. "With the weapons we have it should be a confidence-booster to know that the only team that can beat us is ourselves."

Despite some struggles, particularly against the Redskins, Bledsoe had one of his better seasons last year, completing 300 of 499 passes for 3,639 yards and 23 touchdowns. But because he likes to stand in the pocket longer than many other quarterbacks, he faces a greater amount of defensive pressure. This leads either to more sacks or hurried throws that are often easier to intercept.

Parcells said he did not think Bledsoe received a large amount of pressure from the Jacksonville defense and added that he believed the Cowboys' fragile offensive line played well, putting at least a fair amount of blame on Bledsoe.

Thus it is an interesting time around the Cowboys. Parcells is trying to nurse his favored quarterback along, while an heir apparent looms on the side. Meanwhile, everyone waits for the suddenly healthy Owens to mount his assault on Bledsoe.

Instead, Owens appears to be something he has not been in years -- patient.

"That's the nature of the game," he said of the passes Bledsoe was unable to get to him. "There are going to be missed opportunities. It's obviously something we're going to work on. It's a team effort but by no means are we going to hang our heads."

Even with all the smiles the tension seems to be building. Around the Cowboys everything seems to be bigger than life and this appears to be no exception. Owens has shown he can be as good as he was before, and the way questions are framed around the team, it seems most are expecting it's only a matter of time before he wonders why the ball isn't landing in his hands more.

"I feel good, I'm just getting back into things," Owens said.

Can his quarterback say the same?