Phillips won’t ‘handle’ T.O.

Wade Phillips hates being asked how he’s going to handle Terrell Owens – or any other player.

“First of all, I don’t handle players,” he said every time that word came up. “I work with them.”

Phillips takes over as coach of the Dallas Cowboys with a long reputation as someone players like working with.

Will that be good enough for T.O.?

Owens could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. Odds are, though, he heard the smooth way Phillips let everyone know during his introductory news conference Thursday that the new boss is different from the old boss, Bill Parcells, who usually referred to Owens as “the player.”

“Terrell Owens,” Phillips said, smiling wide. “I did say his name. Terrell Owens.”

“He’s part of the Dallas Cowboys family. So he’s part of my family,” Phillips added. “We are going to trust each other. We are going to be loyal to each other and have a common purpose.”

Then again, there’s a chance Phillips may never have to deal with Owens.

T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches. But it also would cost the club its biggest personality – especially now that Parcells is gone – and its leading receiver. Owens caught 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns last season.

Owens has said he’s willing to come back, but isn’t sure the team wants him. Just to be safe, he cleared out his locker and stripped off his nameplate. When team owner Jerry Jones gave Phillips a tour of the locker room Thursday night, it was the only nameplate missing.

The decision will be up to Jones, who thus far has consistently said he’s willing to deal with all the problems T.O. causes in exchange for his production.

“I’ve said that he’s back, he’s here, he’s under contract,” Jones said. “In the interviews I’ve just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he’s thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success.”

Having a new, player-friendly coach might help, too.

“I think that it can work,” Jones said. “Wade has a good track record, as he said, of working with players. With what I know about Terrell and the relationship I had with Terrell, that’s a potential good fit personality-wise and style-wise.”

Pro Bowl

Vince Young mined his fellow stars for any vein of information during the week leading up to today’s Pro Bowl game at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. He got solid coaching advice from the AFC’s Bill Belichick, while Peyton Manning spoke with him about resilience.

“It’s been great. My head’s kind of spinning, but it’s a great time,” said Young, who will back up Manning and Carson Palmer in the NFL’s 57th all-star game. “I learned something every day. I’m just looking forward to playing in the game and having one more great experience to finish the year.”

Young is the first rookie quarterback to make the Pro Bowl since Dan Marino, but he’s just one star on the loaded AFC roster for the conferences’ 37th meeting since the merger in a laid–back series tied 18-18.

Manning, the Super Bowl MVP, will start with league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson before an impressive defense led by Miami’s Jason Taylor and Denver’s Champ Bailey takes the field.

Young got this opportunity through a little serendipity. He wasn’t an original selection to the Pro Bowl after a debut season he called “good, but not great.” He went 8-5 as a starter with seven rushing touchdowns, but his passing was admittedly erratic.

San Diego’s Philip Rivers was forced to drop out of his first trip because of a foot injury and Tom Brady apparently declined a Hawaii invitation, preferring to play golf at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Baltimore’s Steve McNair also declined because he wanted Young, his friend and successor in Tennessee, to have the opportunity he already had enjoyed.

While Young makes his Pro Bowl debut, retiring New York Giants running back Tiki Barber will suit up for the final time in his 10-year career.

The NFC squad has considerably less star power, a fitting reflection of the AFC’s dominance this season. Drew Brees, the New Orleans quarterback who finished behind Tomlinson in MVP voting, will team up with San Francisco running back Frank Gore and Carolina receiver Steve Smith.