PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : Jones Is Only Along for Ride

This is not been a stellar week for Dallas Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer, who Wednesday referred to Super Bowl XXX as “the Orange Bowl.”

While traveling to the Cowboys’ first practice Monday, Switzer rode in a team bus while many of the team’s stars rode in $1,000-a-day stretch limousines. Michael Irvin, Erik Williams, Leon Lett and Nate Newton were among those pampered players.

Switzer said he had no idea about the arrangement.

“We were all riding in buses. I didn’t see anybody in limos,” Switzer said. “Who was riding in limos?”

When told about the players, Switzer said, “Jerry Jones is the owner. He took one too. What difference does it make, the mode of transportation they’re using? I rode in a vehicle that cost a lot more than a limo.”

Switzer also apparently has taken a nap this week in the back of a luxury bus used by Jones.

Not that the owner is helping matters. Jones has already tried, and failed, to convince lawmakers to suspend the state’s 1 a.m. liquor laws after Sunday’s game to accommodate the Cowboy victory party.

Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman is cautiously shaking his head.

“To this point, I’m not concerned,” he said. “If it got to the point where I felt the activities were taking away from our preparations and our focus on this game, then it would be a concern.”

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The Steelers are, and should be, concerned about Cowboy defensive end Charles Haley, who practiced for the first time Wednesday in preparation for his first start in more than a month.

But the Cowboys are all but laughing at the prospects of facing Steeler defensive back Rod Woodson four months after major knee surgery.

“He’s playing? That’s amazing,” Irvin said. “I know how great he used to be. But I also know what knee surgery takes out of you. It took me a year and a half to recover.”

He added, “I’m shocked. I don’t know if they are playing him because they feel obligated, or what.”