The Cowboys are thinking about re-acquiring Pacman Jones.

The Brett Favre-to-Minnesota talk has been revived.

Yippee.

First, Pacman. The story comes courtesy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. You will remember that the Cowboys ditched Jones after a dustup involving his own security guard in a hotel, followed by a six-game NFL suspension and some mandated alcohol rehab.

And now Jerry Jones, the Cowboys' owner -- while admitting it is a long-shot -- says he is considering bringing Pacman back. Reached after a George Strait concert that opened the Cowboys' new stadium, he asked the reporter, "Would you beat me up too bad if I brought back Adam?"

Beautiful -- especially when you remember that, uh, Pacman's game isn't nearly as good as his nickname.

Then, Favre. It is not his fault that ESPN makes him the lead story every time he passes gas, but Favre cannot stay out of the news and his comeback seems to be alive, still.  ESPN is reporting that Favre quietly has surgery recently to fix his balky shoulder, and the reason is that he is still hoping to play this season for the Minnesota Vikings.

Competitive desire plus vengeance appears to be the most powerful of cocktails for Favre, who clearly wants to get back at the Green Bay Packers for having the nerve to recognize that Favre was of an age and in a physical state that would always mean he would break your heart in the end.

Whatever. It is June and we still have NFL headlines.

Different town, similar event.

Different town, different people.

So it was that Brian Dawkins attended the "Fan Fair" that his new team, the Denver Broncos, puts on in the off-season. The Eagles Youth Partnership holds a fan-oriented event during training camp. This year, in a bit of a change of concept, the Eagles will hold something they're calling "Flight Night" at Lincoln Financial Field on August 2 at 7 pm. It is an evening that will include a full team practice, fireworks, interactive games, cheerleaders and the like.

Anyway, Dawkins went to Denver's event over the weekend. The Denver Post asked him to compare Philadelphia fans to Denver fans, based upon this experience.

Here is what he saw:

"The Philly fans are a lot more aggressive," Dawkins said. "They're a lot louder as far as giving their opinions. The Denver fans are a little laid-back and I understand that. It's a different place. This is a beautiful place with the mountains. Philly is hustle and bustle."

Dawkins added that he knows the Denver region is crazy for the Bronocs, that "they're ready for some football."

But it isn't going to be the same. You know he knows it, too.

Glass half-full time on Brian Westbrook.

It's bad that he needs to have bone spurs in his ankle cleaned out. But the timing is good. That is where you have to begin.

So what if he misses training camp? Honestly, in his case, training camp is just another place where Westbrook can get hurt. (And don't even mention these OTAs.) It is becoming clearer by the year, and by the day, that the truism about running backs is especially true about this guy; that is, that there are a limited number of carries in any NFL running back's body, and that Westbrook likely can see the end someplace on the horizon.

He does not need anything more than minimal practice time, as has been proven over the last couple of years. He's always in shape, so that isn't a significant issue and isn't likely to be one. The ideal is to get him on the field, full strength, for 16 Sundays. If this helps -- and, as a byproduct, a summer off of the practice field also helps -- then that's fine.

The other thing this does is give Shady McCoy everybody's undivided attention. The thought all along was that the second-round draft choice was the linchpin of the 2009 draft, and this is even more true today. He will get tons of practice reps. He will be given every opportunity to prove to himself and the coaches that he can pick up blitzes and otherwise handle the pass-protection load that is an essential facet of the position he plays. Westbrook receives little credit for how good he is at that part of the game -- but his ability to block makes a lot of other things go.

So McCoy will get the work and Westbrook will get the rest -- which is to say, while not ideal, this isn't all bad.

Terrell Owens is shocked -- shocked! -- as he searches for a home to rent in the Buffalo area.

Apparently, he went and saw a place in Orchard Park, the community where the Bills' stadium is located. And he cannot believe that the people did not want to rent to him because of, well, here is what T.O. twittered about the situation on Tuesday:

sittin here trippin about residents @ 1 DEER RUN wn't rent 2 me b/c they said they dn't want any drama n their neighborhood!! LOL!!! Wow!!

I'm with T.O. here. I mean, I'm trippin, too.

Drama? To what could these people possibly be referring?

(PS: It's a six-bedroom, 4,000-square foot house. But the pictures on the website don't really show if the driveway is truly fit for sit-ups.)

Serve, volley.

On Monday, as chronicled in Moving the Chains, the Giants' Osi Umenyiora was quoted in New York as saying that, yeah, yeah, the Eagles beat the Giants in the playoffs last year, but, "I wasn't playing and I saw the way it ended. It was a team we should have beat and it was a team that, if the opportunity arises again, we will beat."

On Tuesday, Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson replied.

"I had a chance to see him this off-season, hanging out with him a little bit," Jackson said. "He was, 'You know, I wasn't playing,' this and that. He's a very competitive guy. He's a great player. I don't take anything away from him. It's just unfortunate that he got hurt last year and wasn't able to play.

"But with him or without him, we are confident in ourselves. One player can't determine if they win or lose. As everybody knows, it's a team. You'll never know what would happen if he was there or if he wasn't there. All I know is that we got the victory and that's what I'm going to go off of. We've just got to get another two this year, or however many we play them...We went in their house and beat them twice. We understand what it takes."

It's all about pitching. It always has been. We get distracted sometimes when Ryan Howard and Chase Utley hit the ball to Camp Pendleton, but it is about Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer and Brad Lidge and the rest of them. The pitchers are the reason the Phillies won the World Series last year and they will be the explanation for whatever happens to the Phillies this season.

Some numbers, then.

Through the first 39 games of the season, the team ERA was 5.33.

In the last 10 games, the team ERA was 3.65.

In the first 39 games, the Phils walked 3.8 players per game.

In the last 10 games, they walked 2.0 players per game.

There are obviously questions to come, beginning tonight against San Diego with Antonio Bastardo starting his first game and Brad Lidge unlikely to be able to close (given that he has saves in the last four days). The only point is that, if the Phillies can continue to get this kind of pitching another time or two through the rotation, a lot of the pressure to go out and get another starting pitcher quickly will dissipate. They're going to have to get somebody to replace Brett Myers, and everybody agrees on that. But there is a difference between being anxious and being desperate, and it would greatly behoove the franchise not to be desperate -- because desperate teams gut their farm systems to bring in pitchers, and the Phillies should be in a position where they pay top dollar but not turn their pockets inside-out. 

In the bridge between now and the arrival of that pitcher, that is what this all means.

Jameer Nelson is pretty good at everything he does, which means he has been a good cheerleader/unofficial assistant coach during the Orlando Magic's run to the NBA Finals. But talking to him during the first round, you could tell he was dying inside. His first All-Star season, truncated when he tore up his shoulder and had surgery in February, has led him to this place -- and you know it's been killing him.

But now, suddenly, there is talk that he is about to be re-evaluated physically. It comes from the top of the Orlando organization, and it's on the record, so there must be something there.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking from a part of the country where Nelson made his name at Chester High and Saint Joseph's, and left an indelible mark -- but Jameer putting on a uniform and playing in the Finals, even a little bit in the Finals, would add an element of interest to the post-LeBron landscape that might not otherwise be there.

It's probably a longshot, but a person can dream.

Charlie Manuel says he doesn't want you to boo his team.

He says he was kidding.

He said, "I definitely didn't mean it." He was referring to something he said to reporters before Tuesday night's game. They were asking him why the team wasn't playing well at home and, at one point, he said, "Maybe (the fans) should get on us a little."

Now, after hearing the reaction to his comment, Manuel says he was "just being kind of off-the-wall, kind of. Maybe I was trying to be funny."

Apparently it wasn't, though. And after Wednesday night's loss, he was asked about losing at home and took an opportunity to take another swing at the topic.

"I was just throwing something out there, that maybe you wanted to laugh or that you thought was funny or whatever," Manuel said. "I won't do it anymore...I'll just answer yes and no. But believe me, I didn't mean (anything) about the fans...I love the fans. The fans shouldn't have to motivate our team."

The reactions continued to pour in on the untimely passing of former Flyer Peter Zezel. Zezel died Tuesday from a rare blood disorder at the age of 44 in Toronto.

RICK TOCCHET: “It is a sad day. Obviously, as a former teammate, it is a sad loss. I know he touched a lot of lives. Unfortunately, I had lost touch with Peter the last few years. We kind of went our separate ways in the hockey world. In talking recently with some of his friends regarding the stuff he was doing with the youth hockey he had been involved with back in Toronto, I am sure he will be leaving behind a legacy. He was just a great guy.

“In the time that we were teammates in Philadelphia, he was probably one of the most popular guys, not just with the Flyers, but among all sports figures in Philadelphia. He was probably one of the top three athletes in Philadelphia at that time. Everybody recognized him on and off the ice. As far as his play was concerned, he was one of the best draw guys in the league and one of the best passers. I know his rookie year he had a bunch of assists. He had really good chemistry with Timmy Kerr on the power play. He was just a guy you could count on. He was a guy you couldn’t knock off the puck. He was a big part of our team.

“Peter was a matinee idol. He was one of those guys who were infectious. When you went out with him, the girls just really liked him. He had a fan base of girls that in all the years I’ve played in the NHL, I have never seen a guy that had so many girls flock to him. He was very fan friendly. I never saw him turn down signing an autograph. The public relations department loved him because he never turned down hospital or school visits. Mr. Snider will even probably tell you that Peter was one of the most accessible Flyers who ever played the game.”

BOB CLARKE: “It obviously is way too early for a man to die at 44 years old. The tragedy surrounding it is just horrific for any of us who knew Peter. Peter was a pretty good hockey player. When he turned pro in Philadelphia, which was my first year (as management), he was an instant favorite with the fans, particularly the young girls. He could play hockey. He was a tank on skates. He could hit and hit very hard. He was terrific on face-offs. He was very skilled with his feet, with the puck and actually very skilled with his stick setting up plays. He was a really good young player who quite possibly had a shot a being a lot better.”

KJELL SAMUELSSON: “I am very sad and very surprised. I knew he was a little bit sick but I didn’t know it was this serious. He was a great guy. I played with him for two years in the Flyers organization. As a player he was very strong on face-offs and a good offensive player. I know when he was here there were guys like Derrick Smith, Rick Tocchet and him. There were a lot of girls, a lot of young girls, wearing Pete Zezel, Rick Tocchet and Derrick Smith jerseys. I do remember that. He was a good teammate. He was kind of a low-key, quiet type. You had to get to know him before he opened up to you.”

CRAIG BERUBE: “Obviously, it is very upsetting. He was a great guy. He was a great teammate. He always had a smile on his face. He came to the rink always happy. He was fun to be around and was a good hockey player for a long time. He played hard.”