T.O., Bledsoe getting on same page; Miami, Steelers open season tonight

GREEN BAY'S BRETT FAVRE Terrell Owens is feeling good about his hamstring - and about his budding relationship with quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

Owens went through practice Wednesday without any limitations, a first since returning from his latest setback. He came away as optimistic as ever about what he, Bledsoe and the Dallas Cowboys can do this season, starting Sunday in Jacksonville.

"I think if I had to play tomorrow, definitely I'd be ready to play," Owens said. "Every day, I'm getting better, definitely getting myself mentally in tune with the game plan to be able to go out there and communicate with Drew. We're trying to get on the same page and go out and make a statement."

Owens' injury prevented him and Bledsoe from getting down their timing. They played only one series together in the preseason, with Bledsoe unable to get off a pass to T.O. during it.

They've tried making up for lost time on the practice field. They stayed late Monday working on deep balls, then got in plenty of passes Wednesday.

"Our timing is getting there," Bledsoe said. "It's a work in progress and will continue to be for as long as we're together. But it's coming along fairly quickly and is probably ahead of where you might think considering the limited time we've been together."

Coach Bill Parcells also is getting to know Owens better now that he's practicing again.

"I'm just kind of talking to him a little bit about where he is, how he feels," Parcells said. "He hasn't had any problems that I know of since he returned to practice. He seems to be kind of accelerating his progress as we go now."

Parcells said he doesn't know whether Owens, who hasn't played a full game since Oct. 30, when he was with Philadelphia, has the stamina to play a full game in the Florida heat and humidity.

"If we were going to go play in Montana, somewhere it was going to be 45 degrees, that might be something different," Parcells said.

 Miami, Pittsburgh open the season tonight: The NFLseason begins tonight with the Miami Dolphins taking on the Steelers in Pittsburgh. The Steelers will be without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who had an emergency appendectomy on Sunday.

Charlie Batch will start at quarterback, with Brian St. Pierre as backup. St. Pierre was moved from the practice squad to the 53-man roster yesterday, two days after being re-signed by the team.

The Pittsburgh Steelers play their first game that counts since winning the Super Bowl. Finally, the player who received the biggest signing bonus on the club gets to show what he can do.

Rookie receiver Santonio Holmes? Newly signed cornerback Ike Taylor? Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward?

No. How about backup quarterback Batch - who, except for two winning spot starts last season - often is one of the least-seen players on a most-visible team that has gone an NFL-best 26-6 the last two seasons?

Batch once helped the Lions make the playoffs, but still calls this the biggest game of his career.

It's not because Batch gets to go against former elementary school classmate Jason Taylor, the Dolphins' star defensive lineman, for the first time since both played college ball in the Mid-American Conference.

"I'm really looking forward to this because I haven't been able to take part in an opener for a while," said Batch, whose last such start came with Detroit in 2001. "I'm excited, I really am."

 Favre says he's "99.9 percent sure" he'll finish career in Green Bay: Although Brett Favre says he's "99.9 percent" sure he'll retire as a Green Bay Packer, he can't rule out the possibility he might finish his career with another team.

But before Cheesehead Nation begins trembling at the thought of seeing Favre wearing Vikings horns, note that the 36year-old said he'd only consider playing elsewhere if the Packers decided they wanted to rebuild without him.

In a taped interview scheduled to air on the HBO show "Costas Now" on Wednesday night, Favre was asked if he might be tempted to play for a team that appeared to be only a quarterback away from Super Bowl contention.

"I can't say it wouldn't happen," Favre said, according to an advance transcript. "If it comes to a point where they do start over, and I feel like I can play and they say, 'Brett, if you want to go somewhere else, go ahead, but we've got to start over, it's time for us to rebuild. It just doesn't make sense, so do what you want.' If I got the itch at some point, I can't say no."

Asked on Wednesday about that comment, which could be interpreted as a position shift for Favre, who previously maintained he'd rather retire than play for another team, Favre said he wasn't trying to send a message to fans that they should start preparing for his departure.

"I said, 'I've always said I'll play in Green Bay, love to play in Green Bay, loyal, this is home to me.' And I still believe that," Favre said.

But if the Packers didn't want him back and he was just sitting at home next offseason?

"Would I consider playing for someone else? I guess I would," Favre said. "Do I think that'll happen? I'm 99.9 percent sure that that won't happen. So, that's it."