NFL Notes: Novacek may go in playoffs

Wednesday, Dec. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

What would be the best thing that could happen to the struggling, 24th-ranked Dallas Cowboys offense?

Answer: Getting tight end Jay Novacek back.

It's a long shot, but it could happen. Novacek, who hasn't played in the regular season because of a bad back, is the missing link in a sputtering Dallas offense that ranks 18th in passing.

Coach Barry Switzer and owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday that quarterback Troy Aikman's second-most-favorite receiver is feeling better.

"He told some of our assistant coaches that his back has felt the best it has felt in a long time and is optimistic that he may play in the playoffs," Switzer said. "That would be a tremendous lift for our team. I'll just wait for Jay to come to me and tell me when he's ready."

Since Novacek came to Dallas six years ago, no tight end has caught more passes (339) and only two had more receiving yards (3,576).

"It's no secret that one of the reasons we haven't been productive on offense this year is because Jay isn't here," Aikman said recently.

Eric Bjornson, groomed to be Novacek's successor, has been hobbled with injuries since training camp. While Novacek caught 62 passes for 705 yards last year, Bjornson has caught only 48 for 388.

Switzer had assumed Novacek had no chance of playing this year.

"All I talk with him about is dogs and killing birds," Switzer said. "I know Jay has been running uphill because his back hurts when he runs on a level surface. I don't know what it would do right now if we got him back to sea level."

* FALCON SUSPENDED: Chuck Smith was suspended by Atlanta coach June Jones after the defensive end, who leads the Falcons in sacks, complained about the team's lack of leadership. "I've asked guys to come talk to me. You'd think you'd have enough loyalty to do that," Jones said Tuesday. Smith was suspended for "conduct detrimental to the team" one day after defiantly calling for change on the team, especially at the top. "We've got to come here and focus on defense," he said. "We need a head man that's going to be a defensive-minded man. Right now that's not the case. Until that happens, we'll be a scrub defense. You've got to have defense that's the focus point of everything. That's the bottom line."

* CHIEF STREAK: If everything breaks right for them this weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs will still be the only team in the NFL that has made the playoffs every season in the '90s. But losing three of the last four games and ending the regular season needing a victory in Buffalo's cold, inhospitable Rich Stadium doesn't exactly make Kansas City (9-6) a good bet for a seventh straight playoff bid. Nevertheless, coach Marty Schottenheimer won't be offering any apologies if his team enters the postseason by marching through the front door or climbing in the rear window. "The guidelines are simple. You have to finish in the top six," the Chiefs coach said Tuesday. "It doesn't matter how or when you win them."

* THOMAS STEWS: Thurman Thomas is frustrated with his teammates because some of them don't seem to care that the Buffalo Bills have lost three straight games. Thomas, whose competitive nature is as important to his success as his legs, has been brewing with anger for the last few weeks as the Bills' strong playoff position slipped away. "There are guys on this team that want to win and want to play," Thomas said without giving names. "You look at our performances over the last three weeks, and there are guys that don't give a damn. They're just happy to pick up a paycheck." Thomas' remarks came after he hobbled into Rich Stadium on Tuesday, a day after Buffalo lost an important game to the Miami Dolphins. The Bills (9-6) struggled through a third straight defeat and put themselves dangerously close to missing the playoffs.