NEW YORK (AP) – Philadelphia fans will get their chance to boo Terrell Owens a month into the 2006 NFL season.

Owens, suspended and then benched by the Eagles last season, will return on Oct. 8 with the Dallas Cowboys in one of the highlight games of the NFL schedule, released Thursday. Owens was let go by Philadelphia and signed by Dallas a month ago.

Several games have already been announced. They include the opener on Thursday night Sept. 7 featuring Miami at Super Bowl winner Pittsburgh.

That will be the first game in NBC’s new package, which includes another previously announced game: Sunday night, Sept. 10 featuring the Manning brothers – Peyton of the Indianapolis Colts against Eli and the New York Giants at the Meadowlands.

ESPN’s new Monday night package will begin on Sept. 11 with a doubleheader: Minnesota at Washington at 7 p.m. Eastern time followed by San Diego at Oakland at 10:15 p.m. The Thanksgiving games feature Miami at Detroit and Tampa Bay at Dallas followed by Denver at Kansas City in an 8 p.m. start, the first of eight games to be carried by the NFL Network.

New Orleans, forced out of its home by Hurricane Katrina last season, returns to the Superdome for a Monday night game Sept. 25 against Atlanta. The Saints are at Cleveland and Green Bay the first two weeks.

This will be the first season of flexible scheduling for prime-time games, with the league having the right to shift Sunday day games to Sunday night games if the scheduled night game involves an unattractive matchup.

The league is also flexible on starting times. No national doubleheader games were designated on the schedule, allowing Fox and CBS to get the most attractive games as the season unfolds.

In addition to the Thanksgiving game, the other NFL Network games, all played at 8 p.m. Eastern time are: Baltimore at Cincinnati, Nov. 30; Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Dec. 7; San Francisco at Seattle, Dec. 14; Dallas at Atlanta, Dec. 16; Minnesota at Green Bay, Dec. 21; Kansas City at Oakland, Dec. 23; and the Giants at Washington, Dec. 30.


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