Late Wednesday morning, the Bills’ media were escorted to the practice field for their allotted 15 minutes of viewing time. It was soon apparent that Terrell Owens was not practicing. He was nowhere to be found. Naturally, we suspected the worst.

Could T. O. have been cut? Half an hour later, a PR staffer retrieved us from an incipient state of panic. Owens had not been released. His absence was injury-related. He was suffering from a hip strain.

It was hard to fathom the Bills releasing their most celebrated player, even if Owens has been an utter disappointment in his half-season in Buffalo. I wouldn’t advocate cutting T. O. But cutting his playing time is another matter.

James Hardy was activated off the injured list later in the day. The Bills made the decision at the last minute. But Hardy, who tore a ligament in his left knee last December, has been healthy for several weeks. He is ready to go, which adds another body to an already crowded wide receiver position.

They need to find out about Hardy over the next eight games. The Bills took him 41st overall in the 2008 draft, as the presumed solution at No. 2 receiver. Hardy wasn’t ready. He has lost a year in his development. The Bills have to determine if he’s the long-term answer.

“I am that,” Hardy said. “I am. I know what I can do. I feel great. This is the best I’ve ever felt, period. My knee is healthy. I’ve stepped up my game mentally, and I’m more involved. I know everything that’s going on now. I’m ready to help this team. This week.”

The problem is getting on the field. It’s hard enough for the other wideouts. The Bills don’t run many three-wide receiver sets in their simplistic attack. Josh Reed, who caught 50-plus passes in 2007 and ’08, has 17 catches. Stevie Johnson, who showed promise as a rookie last year, can’t even get on the field.

Owens is an impediment, a faded star standing in the way of progress. He has 23 catches for 281 yards and hasn’t caught a 20-yard pass since the Miami game. You’re telling me Reed and Johnson couldn’t have posted such modest numbers—minus the drops?

Look, Owens isn’t going to be here next year. That was fairly obvious even before his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, strafed the entire Bills organization on a Miami radio show last week. Rosenhaus ripped the coaching, the quarterbacking, the offensive line play—everything but the annual canned food drive.

Those criticisms were not a revelation. Clearly, Rosenhaus wanted to let the other 31 NFL teams know that Buffalo’s offensive woes aren’t his client’s fault. He doesn’t want people to undervalue Owens when he sprints for the free-agent market in March.

The Bills aren’t going anywhere this season. So they might as well get Hardy some work, even at Owens’ expense. They could put Owens in the slot in three-receiver sets, allowing T. O. to catch more of the quick slants he turned into big gains when he still had elite speed.

But if they have to sit Owens on occasion to get Hardy more touches, so be it.

It would be refreshing to see Dick Jauron stand up to Owens. After getting savaged in public by T. O.’s superstar agent, Jauron has a chance to demonstrate a little self-respect and do the right thing for his team in the process.

I don’t know if Hardy will become a viable NFL receiver. If he had stayed healthy and lived up to expectations last year, T. O. might never have come. But a lot of top wideouts don’t emerge until their third season. Hardy was asked if getting significant playing time in the second half would help the process along:

“Yes,” he said.

Owens hasn’t given that straight an answer all year. He’s no answer, period, and it’s time the Bills admitted it.