Bye week comes at the perfect time for Parcells

By Andy Targovnik  |   Tuesday, September 19, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

Dallas Cowboys
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When the Dallas Cowboys originally found out that their bye week was so early, they couldn't have been happy. After all, most NFL teams like to have their break a few weeks from now, when the players are more banged up and their bodies need the rest. But even if the Cowboys players don't need the rest quite yet, their 65-year-old head coach does - and now.

It's been a mentally tiring season for Bill Parcells. It started with the arrival of Terrell Owens and his subsequent hamstring injury. Parcells had to handle T.O. with kid gloves - something that goes against his grain.

Then Mike Vanderjagt appeared on the scene. Peyton Manning's favorite "idiot kicker" was supposed to make Tuna's life easier. But, as we know, it hasn't quite worked out that way.

During the first regular-season game, Drew Bledsoe's poor performance contributed to the Cowboys blowing a 10-0 lead and ensuing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The fact there was a public outcry for Parcells to name Tony Romo quarterback didn't exactly soothe Tuna's nerves.

So you had all of these issues weighing on Tuna's mind while the Cowboys got read to play the Washington Redskins. Parcells made it clear to his team that he would settle for nothing less than a win against their division rival - especially after their loss to the Jaguars.

"It was the most empty feeling you have" Parcells said. "You open the season, spend the whole summer trying to get ready and then you don't win. It can be a demoralizing thing. I thought it (beating the Redskins) was important because having a division opponent who had beaten us twice last year coming down here, I just felt like the importance was pretty high and so I would say I was pretty well stressed out."

To make matters worse, Parcells agonized whether he should activate two kickers right "right up until the 11th hour."

When the game started, he had one hand on the trigger ready to pull Bledsoe at a moment's notice. But even though Bledsoe played well, due to overall sloppy play, the Cowboys were very close to losing control of a game they were actually dominating. Parcells was livid. He was yelling at players and coaches on the sideline more than usual.

The fact that it was an extremely muggy night didn't help, either. Parcells donned a rain jacket and was profusely sweating. But he refused to take it off.

"I wasn't taking that rain jacket off because we were winning. That shows you how warped I am," the head coach joked.

Then during the postgame press conference Parcells said "I'm feeling ill right now." While the media and fans thought he was referring to the Cowboys' sloppy performance, Parcells revealed Monday that he was actually dehydrated.

"When you put those rain jackets on at night, you dehydrate yourself and that's not good for me once I have an electrolyte imbalance in my system," he said.

Even as Parcells was explaining all of that, he appeared tired and his speech seemed sluggish.

So with the Dallas Cowboys getting the win under their belt, and the Bledsoe and Vanderjagt dilemmas apparently settled for the time being, Tuna can recharge his battery.

If the Cowboys are going to do something special this year, they need Parcells - and a healthy one at that, meaning this early bye week is a blessing in disguise.

Get the keenest Dallas Cowboys insight at RealFootball365.com.
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