Those close to the Cowboys can’t remember owner Jerry Jones being this visibly upset as he was over the leak of the Terrell Owens’ fine. Jones has a great relationship with the local and national media, but he sure was mad about the Dallas Morning News’ story that the club fined T.O. for being late for a meeting and his rehab work. Most of his employees are shaking in their sneakers about talking to the media now.

The Owens saga simply won’t die. He’s missed 21 practice days now with a sore hamstring and he will miss the entire preseason. The next important story will occur next week. Will he practice? If he practices, I’m sure coach Bill Parcells will play him in the season opener in Jacksonville.

But if he doesn’t practice, there’s a very good chance Parcells won’t play him even if Owens says he’s fit to go. Jones went on record last weekend that he thought Owens could play even he didn’t practice.

My considerable gut says that Parcells might simply be reluctant to play Owens for fear of further damaging the hamstring. Every player wants to be close to 100 percent on Sundays. We all know that Owens will be trying to make a statement if he plays and by exerting a lot of effort, he could damage the hamstring. I mean, who sees Owens simply not trying hard against the Jaguars?

If Parcells had a history with Owens, he would be more apt to play him without practicing him. But what coach takes a risk with such a star player without really knowing his physical limits?

Nice move by Eagles

The salaries are a wash, the numbers virtually identical, and that’s why the Eagles acquisition of Saints receiver Donte Stallworth in exchange for undersized linebacker Mark Simoneau was a good move.

Should Philadelphia be able to sign Stallworth to a long-term contract, the Eagles will owe the Saints a third-round pick next season. It’s a solid deal for both teams, considering the Eagles can find out if they really like Stallworth and how he fits into their offense. If he doesn’t, they can move on and so can the former first-round pick.

However, the most important part of the deal is that Stallworth comes a whole lot cheaper than spending a first-round pick on holdout Deion Branch, who also wants more than $6 million a season.

Browns draft success

Heading into the final preseason games, the Cleveland Browns appear to have had a quality draft this season. Most scouts are talking about second-round linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, who definitely will be a starter.

But how about running back Jerome Harrison, a fifth-rounder from Washington State? Harrison has scored two touchdowns and has averaged 7.1 yards per touch in three games. He should be the backup to starter Reuben Droughns.

Good calls

So far so good.

Mike Pereira, the NFL’s director of officiating, wanted his crews to focus on reducing the number of false start penalties this season. Last season, a record 852 false starts were called or an average of 3.33 per game. After 49 preseason games, the average has dropped to 2.65 false starts per game. Offensive holding is also down this preseason to 2.96 penalties per game compared to 3.44 calls per game during the 2005 regular season.

There are two new referees this season. After three games, Gene Steratore’s crew has called the most penalties (60) and Jerome Boger’s crew ranks fifth overall with 42 penalties.

Grossman not that bad

I realize it isn’t a big mathematical sampling, but three scouts who have attended Chicago games this summer have told me that quarterback Rex Grossman hasn’t played that badly. Or, at least, not as poor as the Chicago writers are reporting.

It apparently is unanimous among the Chicago columnists that Brian Griese should be the starting quarterback in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers.

Raiders get George

The Raiders are unbeaten in the preseason, but they have played two of the weakest teams in the league this summer in San Francisco and Detroit.

With the signing of Jeff George, the Raiders may be forced to release quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, who has struggled adjusting to having four different offensive coordinators in six seasons. At one time, Tuiasisopo was a favorite of Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, but don’t expect Tampa Bay to be interested this time around.

The last time George played in a regular-season game was with the Washington Redskins. Then head coach Marty Schottenheimer had seen enough of George, who was a player signed and liked by owner Dan Snyder.

The Redskins lost those two games by a combined score of 67-3. Schottenheimer turned to Tony Banks and finished the season 8-8 after starting 0-5. It was one of his best coaching seasons. Of course, George has a history in Oakland — he led the NFL with 3,917 passing yards in 1997.

He also threw a few touchdowns to Randy Moss when the two were employed in Minnesota in 1999. The signing, though, probably says that backup Andrew Walter is a no-go (sore shoulder) in Thursday night’s preseason game in Seattle.