OXNARD, Calif. -- Quincy Carter became the Cowboys' starting quarterback three years ago after veteran Tony Banks was unexpectedly cut during training camp. His time in Dallas stunningly ended in a similar way.
In a virtually unexplained move Wednesday, Dallas cut the player who began camp just four days earlier as the No. 1 quarterback. Carter started every game last season, when the Cowboys won 10 games and made the playoffs in coach Bill Parcells' first year.
"Sometimes things happen and you have to alter what you're going to do," Parcells said. "We've put our bets down and the wheel's spinning, so we're not looking back."
Sources close to the team told ESPN and ESPN.com that Carter tested positive for an illegal substance prior to being released. ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli has confirmed that Carter spent time at a drug rehabilitation facility within the past 18 months. Carter already was in the NFL's substance abuse program, having tested positive for an illegal substance in the past.
It's unclear whether Carter failed a league- or club-administered drug test. But the possibility the test was given by the team, and not the NFL, drew the ire of union chief Gene Upshaw, according to The Washington Post.
"I just heard about this," Upshaw told the Post. "I won't comment on a drug case. I will say under our collective bargaining agreement a club cannot conduct its own, independent drug testing and impose its own discipline. They just can't do it."
League sources told ESPN.com that despite the positive test, Carter is not under suspension by the league.
According to a broadcast report, Carter tested positive for cocaine, but in an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Carter said he was stunned by his release and called the aforementioned report "ridiculous."
"I'm shocked. I'm at a loss for words," Carter told the newspaper. "The one thing I know and the people who have been around me all my life know is that cocaine has never been an issue for me. It never will be. And it's disturbing that a rumor like that would come out.
"I have not one bad thing to say about the Dallas Cowboys, [coach] Bill Parcells or [owner] Jerry Jones. I have a lot of friends on that team. I just want my teammates and fans to know that cocaine rumor is ridiculous."
Carter was mum about other aspects of his substance-abuse testing, however.
"I can't discuss anything about the NFL's substance-abuse policy," Carter told the newspaper. "The NFL can't discuss anything, and the teams can't discuss anything."
Cowboys sources told The Morning News that Jones and Parcells weren't comfortable that Carter was one failed test away from a suspension, so they cut him.
In an afternoon news conference, Jones and Parcells were vague about why they released Carter, who started every game in 2003 and was the opening-game starter each of his three years.
"We've made a decision to move in a different direction," Jones said. "We're not going to get in a lot of detail on the process."
Jones wouldn't specifically answer questions about reports that Carter violated the NFL's substance-abuse policy for a second time or say if the move was based on non-football issues.
"I think that we should leave it at it just was not a difficult decision, and not get into a definition of what it was about," Jones said.
The quarterback left camp wearing a gray-hooded Cowboys sweatshirt soon after being informed of the decision by Parcells and Jones.
Parcells said just this week that Carter had "a leg up" at quarterback. After the first camp workout Saturday, Carter said he was confident of remaining the starter and didn't consider himself in an open competition for the job.
The coach wouldn't say why there was such a drastic change in direction.
"I just couldn't keep him in the plans," Parcells said. "I'm saddened by this because I've got 18 months invested in it ... two offseason programs and a regular season and a playoff game."
Asked why the decision wasn't made earlier, Parcells said, "We only make decisions based on the information we have."
Carter was a rookie in 2001 when he became Troy Aikman's successor after Banks was cut. This time, 40-year-old Vinny Testaverde takes over as the starter.
The Cowboys went 10-6 last season when Carter threw for 3,302 yards and 17 touchdowns. But he had 21 interceptions, one of the highest totals in the league.
Testaverde reunited with Parcells this summer hoping for a chance to start again. The Cowboys also traded for Drew Henson, a top prospect out of Michigan who spent the past three years playing baseball in the New York Yankees' minor league system.
Parcells said Testaverde, who has 40,943 career yards passing, would start when the Cowboys play their season opener Sept. 12 at Minnesota. The coach plans to spend as much time in camp as possible getting Henson and second-year quarterback Tony Romo ready to play.
"Vinny's a very unselfish player. He'll do his very best to monitor and help Henson and Romo," Parcells said. "I'm comfortable with the player and our team will be comfortable with the player."
Parcells said there were no plans to bring more quarterbacks to camp.
The coach spoke to the team about Carter's departure after the first of two practices Wednesday. Testaverde worked primarily with the starters during the afternoon workout.
"That's good to know that you've got a veteran player at that position," defensive end Greg Ellis said. "Vinny's been under Bill for a while, so he knows Bill and I'm pretty sure he knows his plays, so I'm sure he can step in and get it done."
Carter threw for 3,302 yards and 17 touchdowns in his only full season as the starter, but his 21 interceptions were among the most in the league. He was 16-15 as a starter.
After starting the first seven games in 2002, Carter lost the starting job to Chad Hutchinson, who was cut by the Cowboys just before camp began last week.
Testaverde was a Pro Bowl selection in 1998, when he led the New York Jets to the AFC title game under Parcells, but tore his Achilles' tendon in the 1999 season opener. He lost his starting job to Chad Pennington two seasons ago.
While starting the first seven games last season when Pennington was injured, Testaverde completed 123 of 198 passes for 1,385 yards, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Testaverde, one of just nine players with more than 40,000 career yards passing, said he doesn't have to change his demeanor.
"For the most part, I approach it the same way," he said. "I came here to prepare myself as a starting quarterback. I was competing as if I was going to get the starting job."
The Cowboys traded for Henson, a top prospect out of Michigan who spent the past three years playing baseball in the New York Yankees' minor league system. Romo didn't play during his rookie season.
"Nothing's changed on my part," Henson said. "I'm trying to learn as fast as I can, I'm not trying to accelerate anything. I'm working as quickly and as hard as I can."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1852208
