thought he took."
Pretty significant to attempted suicide.
"Ms. Etheredge says she probably gave the officers wrong information," Kunkle said, then further pointed out this was done at the hospital, not like 24 hours later when everyone could have gotten together to change their stories.
So what the reporting officers originally thought was an attempted suicide, and it probably sure appeared that way with Etheredge sounding overly excited on the 911 tape, an empty bottle of hydrocodone on the counter and Owens lethargic, turned into an overdose and overreaction.
So it would seem Owens' account of mixing the hydrocodone he's been taking following surgery to repair his fractured fourth metacarpal on his right hand with an increased amount of supplements to speed up the healing rate just might be flushing.
And you know what? That Owens was back on the practice field on Thursday - in pads - certainly suggested two things:
That he was not under some 72-hour psychological evaluation, meaning this attempted suicide accusation might not be sticking as well as it apparently was Wednesday morning.
And that whether or not he plays on Sunday comes down to the physical condition of his hand - can he manage whatever pain probably still is present well enough to catch the ball - and has he worked enough to become properly acclimated with the game plan.
That's it.
This likely will not jibe with the cynics and sympathizers out there. The cynics, who still think Owens tried to purposely injure himself, likely think he's too deranged to play football so soon. The sympathizers, the ones who would suggest his hard-scrabbled upbringing and recent disappointments in life caused whatever might have taken place Tuesday night, likely think he should be sitting on someone's medicinal couch on Sunday instead of a bench.
But you know what II? Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells basically told us all we needed to know at his 1:30 p.m. (CDT) media conference when asked if he was worried about Owens' mental state:
"I think if that subject were to come up, someone would approach me. I wouldn't know where to go. I'm just assuming the player - I have to rely on the doctors that apparently evaluated him when he was in the hospital, and if they deemed it appropriate to release him then there must be a reason they did that, then I have to assume that was the appropriate course of action."
To me, and you decide if you agree or not, Parcells must have listened to enough non-football people to think there would be nothing wrong with Owens returning to work on Thursday - and that's more work than he's done, mind you, since his last full practice on Sept. 15 before fracturing the fourth metacarpal two days later.
If Owens was the emotional mess most had been suggesting since getting their hands on the DPD's initial report that qualified why officers were dispatched on a call from Dallas Fire and Rescue, would any professional worth their license have Owens back on the practice field 36 hours later?
The NFL is cold, but not that cold.
And certainly not as cold as one reporter suggested when asking Parcells on Thursday if he felt any culpability for Owens possibly ingesting more pain pills than he should have because of his insistence on players practicing no matter what.
Wow, in the course of one month we've gone from Owens faking injuries to get out of practice to Owens taking more pills than prescribed so he can practice. Is anyone keeping score on this stuff?
Now then, call off the suicide watch. Begin the fourth metacarpal watch.
How much Owens practiced, we're not sure, Parcells simply saying, "He did everything he was asked to do. He wasn't asked to do everything. Took some plays, took some turns."
That's some gray area there. How much did they ask him to do? Just know Owens still is listed as questionable on the injury report, which means he's 50-50.
Remember, it was just Tuesday - that seems a month ago, doesn't it? - Parcells said Owens' ability to manage pain caused by catching the ball would be the deciding factor if he plays against the Titans.
So, how did he handle pain management?
"Seemed to be OK with that
