Owens discusses recovery schedule, vows to silence critics

Terrell Owens is working hard to get back on the football field. After that, he'd like to find an NFL team that will allow him to continue his career.

Owens recently provided a positive update on his recovery from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, saying he's way ahead of schedule and hopes to contribute to a team this season.

"The doctors said the timetable was six to eight months, and up to a year, of rehab process," the veteran receiver told ESPN.com following a Monday workout. "Obviously, they gave someone of my caliber a four- to six-month window. Four months is very ambitious, and that's where I'm at now: four months and four or five days out from surgery."

Owens is known to be a quick healer. While with the Philadelphia Eagles, he famously made an early return from a broken leg to post big numbers in a Super Bowl XXXIX loss to the New England Patriots.

But this is a different injury and a different Owens, who at 37 is six years older than he was during his shining moment with the Eagles. Undaunted, Owens believes he can produce for an NFL team by the end of September.

"Talking with the doctors, going through my personal training in L.A. and in Pensacola (Fla.), they stressed that I'm way ahead of schedule," he said. "I'm giving myself the timetable of maybe two or three weeks into the season that I'll be ready. That's giving myself a grace period, for setbacks. I'm rehabbing my butt off to get back on the field."

What remains a mystery is how Owens injured the knee. It's known the injury occurred in April, but Owens refused to elaborate any further.

"It's nobody's business," he said.

Owens has been one of the most productive receivers in NFL history during his career, accumulating 15,934 receiving yards and 153 touchdowns. He had another strong season with a poor Cincinnati Bengals team in 2010, finishing with 72 catches for 983 yards and nine touchdowns.

Owens admitted he had doubts about continuing his career after learning of the severity of his knee injury, but he said religion carried him through the uncertainty. As for how he can fit in with a prospective team, he cited past experience as an example.

"I still feel like I can do the same thing that I did when I went into Buffalo," Owens said. "They said, 'You're not going to be penciled in as our No. 1 guy. We have our No. 1 guy and our No. 2 guy.' I'm like, all right, fine, I'll let my play do the speaking for me. They had Lee Evans there, but if you look at the end-of-the-year statistics, that'll tell you the tale."

Owens played one season for the Bills in 2009, leading the team with 55 receptions for 829 yards and six touchdowns.

"Then, I go to Cincinnati last year," Owens said. "Obviously, they had a great receiver there, Chad (Ochocinco). I went into training camp a day after it started. I had only a month to grasp the offense. Again, look at the statistics -- and I missed two or three games."

Owens clearly is motivated by the speculation that his career is in jeopardy.

"This is another challenge for me," he said. "Another opportunity to show people that age is nothing but a number. You can do anything you put your mind and body to. I don't allow naysayers to deter me from my goal."

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Newton's father gives rare interview, discusses NCAA probe

An NCAA investigation into his father's alleged improper conduct hung over Cam Newton during the NFL draft process, but it didn't stop the Carolina Panthers from taking the quarterback No. 1 overall.

And, Cecil Newton said, it won't define him either. In fact, he's confident the NCAA's probe won't turn up anything past last year's ruling that he asked Mississippi State for a six-figure payment for his son's services in 2009.

"We really just want it to calm down, let the smoke settle, let the dust settle," Newton told The Charlotte Observer on Thursday. "The truth is out there. They have it in their files."

Asked if he requested money from Auburn, the school his son eventually attended, Newton said: "According to what the NCAA findings are, that's what we're going with."

Newton gave the rare interview in Bradenton, Fla., where he watched Cam work out in preparation for his first NFL season. Cam was cleared by the NCAA, which ruled he didn't know about his father's actions, and kept playing, leading Auburn to the BCS national championship last season.

Now the Newtons are waiting for the lingering NFL lockout to end so Cam can sign a contract that should be lucrative but not worth as much as past No. 1 deals. That's because the next collective bargaining agreement is expected to include a rookie wage scale that will prevent deals like the $50 million guaranteed that top pick Sam Bradford received from the St. Louis Rams last year.

"I just want Cam to get out here, get on board with his team, do the right things on and off the field, and the rest will take care of itself," Cecil Newton said. "He's played for so long for free that anything we make, man, is a blessing."

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Vikings owner Wilf discusses state of team with veterans

Team owner Zygi Wilf spent a second day at the Minnesota Vikings' practice facility Thursday, watching practice, talking with coach Brad Childress and several veteran players, and even eating lunch in the cafeteria.

The Star Tribune reported, according to NFL sources, that Wilf's discussions with quarterback Brett Favre, guard Steve Hutchinson and defensive linemen Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams included the topic of Childress.

Wilf declined interview requests, but the newspaper reported the owner was displeased with how Childress handled the release of Randy Moss -- not using team protocols -- but perhaps not with the decision to release the receiver, who skewered the Vikings' coaching staff during a postgame rant last Sunday.

Wilf could be seen talking with Childress during Thursday's practice, and the coach is aware the owner also has talked to a cross-section of players. What impact that has remains to be seen.

"You'd have to talk to those people," Childress said.

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