Will the Eagles Get a T.O. in Florida?

PHILADELPHIA — Asked on national television whether he thought star receiver Terrell Owens would play in Super Bowl XXXIX, Andy Reid gave the answer the Philadelphia Eagles had been hoping to hear.

“I have a feeling he will,” the Eagle coach said with a big smile.

That was news to the team’s medical staff, which has not been overly optimistic about the possibility of Owens’ getting back on the field for the Feb. 6 game against the New England Patriots in Jacksonville, Fla. Recovering from a fractured ankle suffered in a Dec. 19 game against the Dallas Cowboys, Owens has not yet demonstrated enough mobility to justify Reid’s prediction.

In a postgame news conference away from the glare of the national broadcast, Reid sheepishly admitted he had overstated the situation.

“I got caught up in the emotion,” he said. “He was standing right there. I had to make him feel good.”

Even if Owens were able to return, his effectiveness would be questionable, because he would be coming back from a serious injury after a long layoff.

But be assured, in the wild media environment of the Super Bowl, where stories are often blown out of proportion, the possibility of Owens’ return will be a subject of constant speculation.

And who knows, he might make a token appearance at the start of the game -- a la Willis Reed for the New York Knicks against the Lakers in the 1970 NBA Finals -- to supply an emotional spark.

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Among those Reid praised in his postgame news conference were the workers who labored to get Lincoln Financial Field in shape for Sunday’s game.

Although the turf was covered with a heated tarp Saturday, it was still buried under the foot of snow that fell on the city. Crews worked for 28 hours to clear the mounds of snow away.