Coach Dick Jauron was discussing the electric quality that Terrell Owens' presence brings to the Buffalo Bills yesterday when a roar of cheers and shrieks erupted from the other side of the practice field in Pittsford, N.Y.

The cause of the commotion was Owens, of course. To the delight of the hundreds of fans who had waited after practice, the star receiver elected to hold an impromptu autograph session that lasted nearly 25 minutes and drowned out anything his coach had to say about the Bills' first day of training camp.

"It adds a lot of excitement," Jauron said. "I don't know how [the attention] can be bad."

More than 5,000 fans combined to attend the team's two practice sessions, and most of them clearly were there to see Owens make his public practice debut in a Bills uniform since signing with the team in March.

The former Eagle and 49er was released by the Dallas Cowboys.

Meanwhile, Buffalo waived linebacker John DiGiorgio because he failed his physical. He suffered a season-ending knee injury after appearing in six games, primarily on special teams.

DiGiorgio tore a ligament in his right knee while blocking on a punt return in the second quarter of a 23-14 win over San Diego in Week 7 last season.

DiGiorgio's agent, Chris Murray, said his client had microfracture surgery two weeks ago in Vail, Colo.

Receivers James Hardy and C.J. Hawthorne opened training camp on the active-but-physically-unable-to-perform list as they continue to recuperate from injuries.

Falcons. In 43 seasons in the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons have had only 10 winning seasons, and never two in a row.

That is something former Penn Charter star Matt Ryan is out to correct.

As a rookie last fall, the quarterback from Boston College led the Falcons to a surprising 11-5 record.

The NFL's rookie offensive player of the year has heard much about Atlanta's long history of futility.

"What's done is done," he said. "The past is kind of the past. Our focus is on just trying to be the team that we feel we can be."

Ryan and the Falcons open training camp on Saturday.

Favre. John Elway has a message for Brett Favre: Just do it.

Favre is considering whether to come back with the Minnesota Vikings.

"If he decides not to play now and doesn't come back, I think he'll question that for the rest of his life," Elway said.

Joe Montana has a message for Favre, too: Just do something.

"If he's ready to play, then, yeah, he should," Montana said. "But usually when you're waffling like that, it makes it difficult on everybody. . . . If it was the first time he's done it, it would be different. But we've seen it already, and here we go again."

The two Hall of Fame quarterbacks weighed in on the Favre situation Friday while warming up for the Madden NFL 10 Pigskin Pro-Am, a celebrity flag-football game in Malibu, Calif.

Fans greet Roethlisberger. Ben Roethlisberger enjoyed a warm reception from Pittsburgh Steelers fans Friday night in his first public appearance since being named in a civil lawsuit by a woman who alleges he sexually assaulted her. He has denied the allegation.

Filming the first episode of Shaquille O'Neal's reality TV show, Roethlisberger kept things lighthearted.

In his statement after the lawsuit was made public last week, Roethlisberger said he would not discuss the matter further with the media.