CANTON, Ohio -- The Cincinnati Bengals clearly were determined to get Terrell Owens a fair amount of work in Sunday night's preseason opener against one of his former teams, the Dallas Cowboys.
It was a good thing, because Owens, and the rest of Cincinnati's offense, needed it.
Joining the Bengals just before the start of training camp, Owens had no chance to participate in offseason workouts. And, for the most part, the two offensive series in which he played in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game -- both in the first quarter -- resembled a practice session.
"We're a work in progress; we're getting there," Owens said. "It felt just like a practice."
The Bengals' starting offense was sloppy and uneven, offering little sense of exactly what the Bengals have gained by adding the veteran wide receiver that no other team seemed to want (at least for his asking price) after 14 NFL seasons and four previous stops. To be certain, they have another big personality to join the one they already had in Chad Ochocinco. The two wound up in the starting lineup because Antonio Bryant, listed ahead of Owens on the depth chart, was out with a knee injury.
Will the "Ocho and T.O. Show" be lighting things up in the regular season? It's hard to say. Owens has clearly lost a step or two. He appears to be in tremendous shape, as always, but he is not the dynamic athlete he once was.
Ochocinco still has the ability to be a game-breaking force and Carson Palmer has the arm to make game-breaking throws. However, another receiver is needed as a complement, as someone who can draw coverage elsewhere.
Before the Bengals' first possession, Owens spent a couple of minutes trying to limber up outside the huddle, taking long strides and basically doing all he could to get his 36-year-old body loose enough to handle the workload he was about to receive.
Sure enough, Palmer's first throw of the night, on second-and-4, went to Owens for a 7-yard gain and a first down. On the next play, Palmer again threw to Owens, who made a nice catch while being hit by cornerback Terence Newman. But Ochocinco, the only player on the field with gold shoes, drew an illegal motion penalty to negate the play.
Second-and-14: Palmer tried throwing to Owens again, but the pass was short.
Third-and-14: Palmer was pressured and attempted to dump a pass underneath to Owens, who was falling, and the pass was incomplete.
The Bengals opened their second possession with an 11-yard pass from Palmer to Owens. And that would be the last time the ball would come his way before he and the rest of the starters would retreat to the sidelines for the remainder of the night.
"I don't think there was a plan to throw to me early," Owens said. "(Palmer) just assessed the defense and took what they gave him."
Despite Owens' turbulent three seasons with the Cowboys, there was little in the way of drama on this night. In that respect, everyone took the game for exactly what it was: a first preseason game.
It was a night of cameo appearances, such as those by Owens and his former quarterback, Tony Romo. It was a night that, as usual, left more questions than answers.
Earlier in the day, Owens told reporters that he didn't think Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was the reason he exited Dallas, saying, "I think if Jerry had the ultimate decision, I would be there."
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That might have some validity, because there were reports that one of Jones' sons, Stephen, the Cowboys' executive vice president and chief operating officer, pushed his father to dump Owens.
Owens also said his talent wasn't the reason he was released following the 2008 season and that "obviously there had to be some other factors there."
If, by "other factors," he was talking about his being a divisive force in the locker room, then perhaps that was true.
Yet, the 2009 season that he spent with the Buffalo Bills hardly indicated that Owens was the dominant receiver he once had been for the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, where he also caused division. Owens led the Bills in receptions and was well behaved, but he did little on the field that could be considered special on a very bad team.
Most of the rest of the NFL recognized that, and that was why Owens wound up with only one serious taker for his services.
Now, the job for the Bengals -- and Owens -- is to do as much as they can to make it mean something other than a marginally interesting preseason story.
