OXNARD, Calif. - Has Terrell Owens met his match? The Cowboys star wide receiver returned to practice Wednesday after an injury layoff, but not because he was ready, but because he was told to by coach Bill Parcells, Sports Illustrated reported Thursday.

SI said that, during the team's practice on Tuesday, Parcells told trainer Jim Maurer, "Look, you tell Terrell that tomorrow I want him out here for practice. Tomorrow's the day. I don't care. Tomorrow's the day."

On Wednesday, Owens was back on the field, even though he said he still wasn't 100 percent. Instead of bike helmets or shorts, Owens was in pads, working with his Cowboys teammates after missing 14 straight practices because of a hamstring problem.

“Not where I want to be, but definitely some improvement,” Owens said after the nearly 2½-hour practice. “I just felt like with the things I was doing rehabwise, I could do some limited stuff. We’re not going to go overboard. They’re going to work me in until I get my endurance.”

One unidentified player said some Cowboys players were beginning to wonder if Parcells had lost his ability to lead.

"Before T.O. got back out there, a lot of people were starting to second-guess Bill," the player told SI. "For the first time ever, he'd shown a little weakness, like he might not be totally in control, and like he didn't know how to handle this situation. Because, let's face it, it's been a total spectacle so far."

The same unidentified player also said that Parcells was none too thrilled with Owens' "Tour de Terrell" gag last week, during which he wore a helmet and the silver-and-blue jersey of retired Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team while riding his stationary bike during practice.

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"As soon as he saw T.O. in the jersey, and saw all the TV cameras heading over, Parcells got up and walked to the other end of the field," the Cowboy said. "It's like he was saying, 'There's no way you're gonna get a shot of me in the same frame as that crap.'"

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones suggested last weekend that Owens needed to learn how to practice at less than 100 percent. The receiver insisted earlier this week that he knew only one way to practice — at full game speed.

Then earlier Wednesday, Bill Parcells reiterated that Owens needed to be back on the field.

And a couple of hours later, Owens was.

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“I just prayed about it, right before I got out here. That’s the God’s honest truth,” Owens said. “I feel like a lot of people have been speculating with me sitting on the bike every day. ... I’m not going to let anybody, as far as mediawise, coachingwise, speculate as far as my health is concern. I feel like I’ve got nothing to prove to anybody.”

Still, Owens acknowledged that he didn’t want to be a problem.

“I don’t want to have any friction with anybody,” he said. “But I feel like at some time, when someone starts to question my heart or my injury, it does get under your skin a little bit.”

As has been his custom throughout camp, Owens was the last player on the field.

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"We all just sat and wondered, 'Who's gonna win this battle?'" the unnamed Cowboys player told SI. "As a player, you can't help but get distracted when something like that is going on. The guy comes out last every single practice, has somebody carrying his helmet and is always putting on his uniform at the last minute, and then he's out there riding the bike and drawing attention to himself. Even if he's not trying to be a deterrent -- and he clearly is -- it's obvious that the coach isn't happy.

"The bottom line is, he appeared to be healthy and wasn't practicing. So we'd sit and wonder, Who's gonna win? How's it gonna go down?'"