T.O. on Vanderjagt: 'I lost some games and I'm still here'

IRVING, Texas -- Terrell Owens isn't just sorry to see his pal Mike Vanderjagt go. He thinks the Dallas Cowboys made a mistake by releasing the wayward kicker.

"I don't see what he did wrong to warrant him being cut," Owens said Wednesday. "I hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. Whoever made that decision, I'm pretty sure they're hoping the same thing."

Vanderjagt was released Monday, only 11 games into a three-year, $5.4 million contract.

He was 13-of-18 on field goals, a 72.2 percent success rate that was the lowest of his nine-year career. However, he's still the most accurate kicker in league history (86.5 percent) and only one of his misses was completely botched; three hit the right upright and another was blocked.

The final straw was missing two kicks against his former team, Indianapolis, then barely making a 22-yarder against Tampa Bay. Coach Bill Parcells had lost confidence in Vanderjagt heading into the last month with the Cowboys (7-4) holding first place in the NFC East. Martin Gramatica was signed to take his place, despite his own struggles the last few years.

In their brief time as teammates, T.O. and the "idiot kicker," as Peyton Manning once called Vanderjagt, really hit it off. Owens said he's spoken with Vanderjagt since he was cut.

"Going into the Colts game, the guy was 12-of-15. That's still a high kicking percentage," Owens said. "He didn't lose any games for us. If I had to put myself in the mix, I feel like I lost some games and I'm still here, so it's just unfortunate."

Owens dropped a sure touchdown pass that would've broken open a game at Washington. Instead, Vanderjagt had a chance to win it with a last-second field goal, but a missed assignment by a linemen led to the kick being blocked and the Redskins wound up kicking the winning field goal. It was the only game Dallas lost when Vanderjagt missed a kick.