ONE OF THE 'BOYS CROWD, MEDIA GATHER TO SEE WR OWENS.

Byline: IVAN OROZCO Staff Writer

OXNARD - Jogging back to the huddle, Terrell Owens spread his arms and waved them up and down.

Owens continued the motion, urging a horde of Dallas Cowboys fans to keep chanting, ``T.O., T.O., T.O.''

The crowd, crammed behind a football field-long fence, continued the chant, praising the five-time Pro Bowl receiver for catching a long pass along the near sideline.

``Touchdown,'' Owens said after the team's first training-camp practice Saturday morning, summarizing the results of the catch. ``I felt like the offense was kind of sluggish today. The tempo was a little down, so I'm trying to get the guys fired up a little bit.''

Owens seems to have everybody fired up about his presence.

Camera flashes illuminate him from almost every angle on the field, and television camera operators scramble down the sidelines with tripods on their shoulders to get the best shot of No.81.

Owens is questioned about nearly every move he makes, every conversation he has on the field and what his relationship is with his new teammates and head coach Bill Parcells.

But Owens seems to enjoy it all.

``Eyes are always on me,'' he said. ``So that doesn't really bother me.''

Owens brushed aside the possibility his teammates have negative opinions about his character. Owens was, after all, run out of Philadelphia last year, suspended by the Eagles for four games and then deactivated for the rest of the season because of conduct deemed detrimental to the team.

As for his relationship with Parcells, an old-school coach?

``It's a work in progress,'' Owens said. ``Bill is going to be Bill, and you just have to be confident in yourself.

``I know Bill's the kind of guy that's going to test guys, so to speak. I'm kinda like a couple steps ahead of him in that department. If he gets onto me, I know it's for the good of the team. I welcome that. ... As long as I'm doing my job, then I think we'll have no problems.''

Parcells made it known he is not concerned with Owens' past distracting the Cowboys.

``He's here, so my job is to get that player into the system and get him going well,'' Parcells said during a news conference between practices.

``That's what I'm going to try to do to the best of my ability. There's no magic formula -- there's no this, no that -- dealing with radical players. ... Where we are now, it's what counts.''

It's too early to tell where the coach-receiver relationship will go this season, but Owens seems to be trying to be a positive influence on a squad with several young receivers.

Owens had no problem complimenting fellow receivers for their work during a receivers' catch-and-cut drill around cones. After rookie Skyler Green completed the drill, Owens applauded and tapped Green on the helmet. Green replied with a nod.

Stepping onto the field with an 11-year veteran receiver that developed aching relationships with quarterbacks Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia and Jeff Garcia in San Francisco doesn't worry the Cowboys' Drew Bledsoe.

``T.O. is a lightning rod,'' Bledsoe said. ``I've dealt with a lot of receivers who are voluble guys, and that's just the nature of the position. So far, I haven't had a single problem with any of them.''

If Owens was to confront Bledsoe about an off-target throw, Bledsoe said he will let Owens know why he didn't throw it where he wanted it.

``Usually, I'm the one that goes and says something to the receiver, `Hey, I missed you on that one, I'll get you on the next one,''' he said.

Bledsoe and the Cowboys hope Owens can help the team get over its playoff drought. Dallas has not won a postseason game in six years and failed to make it to the NFC playoffs last season despite a 9-7 record. Owens had a part in helping the Eagles reach the Super Bowl two seasons ago.

Cowboys fans expect the same.

Martin Gonzalez, 39, and his three sons made the drive from El Sereno to Oxnard to see Owens.

``I hope he's good man, because if he messes up, coach (Parcells) won't get along with that,'' Gonzalez said. ``In the meantime, we'll continue chanting his name.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dallas wide receiver Terrell Owens stands with coach Bill Parcells the first day of training camp Saturday in Oxnard.

(2 -- color) In a scene expected to be repeated throughout the NFL season, a horde of media crowds around Terrell Owens.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images