Owens Is Taking a Cautious Stance

Terrell Owens won’t be in any hurry to get off the bicycle this time.

Like he did for most practices during training camp in Oxnard, Owens rode a stationary bicycle Wednesday when the Dallas Cowboys held their first workout at Irving, Texas. The receiver said he aggravated his left hamstring injury by returning to practice too soon last week.

“At this point, yeah, I will be close to 100% before I get back on the field,” Owens said. “I’m not going to jeopardize my health just because of speculation or anything like that.”

Owens characterized his injury as a “severe pull” and said he almost certainly would sit out his third consecutive exhibition. The Cowboys play host to the San Francisco 49ers, Owens’ original team, Saturday night.

Owens had returned to practice after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones suggested that the receiver needed to learn how to practice at less than 100%. His first practice back came only hours after Coach Bill Parcells reiterated that Owens needed to be on the field.

Owens first felt a twinge in his hamstring Aug. 2, but an MRI exam three days later was clear. Owens said an MRI exam this week was negative, with only a little fluid in the hamstring.

It’s possible that Owens might not play in a game for Dallas until the Sept. 10 opener at Jacksonville. He hasn’t played in a game with quarterback Drew Bledsoe, and the Dallas offense is different from the West Coast scheme Owens played in with the 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles.

“He is pretty much up on what to do,” Parcells said. “He has been very attentive in meetings and trying to learn.”

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Drew Henson won’t be on the Cowboys’ roster this season, and the former third baseman once considered the team’s quarterback of the future might be on the trading block.

Henson’s locker had already been cleaned out when reporters were allowed into the locker room before practice. For now, rookie free agent Matt Baker is the No. 3 quarterback behind Bledsoe and Tony Romo.

“I’m really not at liberty to discuss the situation because I’m not privy to that information,” Parcells said.

Henson had played three seasons in the New York Yankees’ organization when the Cowboys acquired him from the Houston Texans in March 2003. The Texans had the rights to Henson after drafting him in 2002.

Three years ago the Cowboys gave Henson an eight-year deal with a guaranteed $3.5 million -- the most for a sixth-round pick -- and sent a third-round draft pick to the Texans. The last four years of Henson’s contract were voidable.

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Indianapolis Colts running back James Mungro will miss the season after tearing a right knee ligament during Sunday’s exhibition against Seattle.

Mungro, a short-yardage specialist, has scored 13 touchdowns in four seasons with the Colts.

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New York Jets running back Kevan Barlow apologized to 49ers Coach Mike Nolan for comparing him to Adolf Hitler in a newspaper interview.

Barlow, traded from San Francisco to New York on Sunday for a fourth-round pick, made his comments to the Contra Costa Times. The outspoken Barlow said he left a detailed message for Nolan.

“If I could take it back, I would,” Barlow said. “I was very emotional. All I knew at the time was San Francisco, that was where I started my career, that’s where my house was. It was a shock to me.

“I’m a passionate player, I’m an emotional guy when it comes to on the field and off the field. Sometimes it gets the best of us. I put it behind me, and I’m glad to be a Jet.”

Barlow was upset with the trade because Nolan assured him earlier in the week he wouldn’t be dealt. He told the newspaper Nolan was a “first-time head coach with too much power.”