Now, he doesn't really want to talk about it.
After trainer Rick Burkholder laid out the team's rehabilitation plan for Owens yesterday at the NovaCare Complex, the head coach cut off questions about the star wide receiver who, one day earlier, was denied medical clearance from his orthopedic surgeon to play in the Super Bowl.

"Let's just leave it at that," Reid said when reporters started firing questions at Burkholder. "Rick gave you plenty to work with."

When Burkholder exited stage left, more questions about Owens and his surgically repaired right ankle were hurled at Reid.

"That was all the Terrell stuff we're going to talk about," Reid said. "This whole thing is going to go that direction, and that's not where we're going to go with this. I wanted to let Rick come in here and explain it to you. He gave you plenty of information that you can work with and that's the end of Terrell."

The subject wasn't immediately dropped and, rest assured, the T.O. watch is going to remain in effect until a definitive decision is made about the receiver's status for the Super Bowl.

According to Burkholder, the plan right now is to continue Owens' rehab with the hope he can play in the NFL title game in 10 days. According to Reid, the Eagles will conduct practice as though Owens will not be ready for the Super Bowl. The Eagles held their first practice in preparation for the Patriots yesterday and Owens was not, according to a team spokesman, even in attendance.

Owens wasn't talking yesterday. He passed through the NovaCare Complex without acknowledging questions from a pair of reporters.

Burkholder made it clear that Owens' plan is to attempt to play in the Super Bowl just a little more than six weeks after foot specialist Mark Myerson inserted two surgical screws into the receiver's right ankle. It was Myerson who told Owens and the Eagles on Tuesday that he would not give the receiver medical clearance to play in the Super Bowl.

"Terrell had a little bit of soreness right around the injury plate," Burkholder said of Myerson's Tuesday examination in Baltimore. "The doctor did watch a DVD that Terrell and I made of his rehab... and he admitted to us that he thought that Terrell was further along than he even anticipated five weeks ago."

Burkholder said the Eagles were not surprised that Myerson denied medical clearance to Owens.

"We understand Dr. Myerson's point of view," Burkholder said. "It's what we expected when we went down there. He said medically he could not clear him and liability-wise he could not clear him. We understand that. There's no difference of opinion with him on that.

"It's just that our risk-reward is different than his risk-reward. He has great risks in clearing Terrell to play, and he has no reward. We think there's some risk, and we think there's great reward. Right now, we're going to progress with his rehab."

Burkholder said the Eagles were on the same page as Owens and his agent, David Joseph, who was at the NovaCare Complex on Tuesday. Though the Eagles are more than willing to let Owens attempt his rapid return from his Dec. 22 ankle surgery, it's possible they may also be asking for protection if something should go awry on Super Bowl Sunday, creating a career-threatening injury for the star receiver.

One possibility is that Owens would have to sign a liability waiver in order to play in the game. Neither Joseph nor Eagles president Joe Banner returned phone calls yesterday.

Reid said the Eagles have Owens' long-term health in mind.
"We're never going to put Terrell at risk where we feel that we're sticking him out there to be injured," Reid said. "If all symptoms come down to where we feel he's fine to play and he feels he's fine to play, then we'll go that direction. That's the bottom line."

Owens still has much to prove before he can even get back on the practice field.

"He just started jogging" Tuesday, Burkholder said. "We will continue to see whether he can jog and see how he does day in and day out. We'll see if he can change directions. If he passes all those tests, then we'll start talking about practice time with Coach Reid. If he can get through that, we'll talk about the game.

"The game is 11 days away," he said yesterday. "That's not even in our vision right now. Know this, if he has a setback in this rehab then the whole idea of playing in the Super Bowl is probably off, and we know that."

Though Myerson has said it normally takes eight to 10 weeks for anyone to fully recover from the type of ankle surgery Owens underwent last month, Burkholder said it was the surgeon who gave the receiver and the Eagles hope that he could play in the Super Bowl.

"Dr. Myerson said at five to seven weeks, he had a chance to play," Burkholder said. "We went with that and ran with it. In the course of the rehab, he changed his opinion, which he's entitled to."

Owens and Burkholder continued to press toward their goal, and the trainer insists there's even a role model. Burkholder said one NFL wide receiver suffered the same injury in training camp and played six weeks later on opening day.

"He played at a high level, and he faced those same risks that Terrell faces and he's done fine with it," Burkholder said.

The trainer wouldn't reveal the player, but one team source said it was former Minnesota and New Orleans receiver Jake Reed. Attempts to find Reed's complete medical history were not successful yesterday.

Meanwhile, Owens' attempt to defy the odds and his doctor's recommendation continued.