DALLAS -- Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens said Wednesday that he did not try to take his own life Tuesday.

"There was no suicide attempt," Owens told reporters at a news conference held at the Cowboys practice facility.

Looking relaxed, Owens thanked God and said he was eager to dismiss rumors, including that he had taken 35 pills and that he had his stomach pumped.

Owens said he had taken some painkillers Tuesday, and then had a broken hand worked on by a physician. Still feeling some pain, he took a few more painkillers along with some supplements, he said.

At some point after that, his publicist Kim Etheredge found him unresponsive, and also found a bottle of empty pills in the house, Owens said. She took the precaution of calling 911, Owens said, adding that he was glad she did.

Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday.

He is recovering from a broken right hand suffered a week ago Sunday. He had an operation the next day to have a plate screwed in, enabling the bone to heal without being further injured. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.

The Cowboys were off this past weekend and Owens was back at practice Tuesday, although he worked out on his own. Parcells said Owens' hand was improving and he was expected back on the practice field Wednesday. Owens chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room Tuesday afternoon and seemed fine, Dallas TV station KXAS reported.

Earlier Wednesday, a Dallas police report cited by the Associated Press said Owens was taken to a hospital Tuesday evening after attempting suicide. The report said Owens ingested an unknown large quantity of prescription pain medication. The AP reported that the police report said Owens told rescue workers that he was depressed.

At the Wednesday news conference, Etheredge said Owens was not depressed.

The AP reported that a friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that (his) prescription pain medication was empty and observed (Owens) putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

The friend attempted to pry them out with her fingers, then was told by Owens that before this incident he'd taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

Owens' status for Sunday's game against Tennessee was not immediately known. He was expected to practice Wednesday for the first time since breaking the bone leading to his right ring finger 10 days ago.