Giants Have a Lot on Line With Umenyiora

Return From Knee Injury Is Key to Giants' Hopes

There already were plenty of good reasons to scrutinize defensive end Osi Umenyiora closely before and during the New York Giants' season opener Sunday against the Washington Redskins at Giants Stadium. The two-time Pro Bowler is returning from a knee injury that cost him all of last season, and the Giants' Super Bowl hopes would be bolstered greatly if he regains the quickness and elusiveness that once made him one of the top pass rushers.

But Umenyiora was elusive in a different way last week, leaving the Giants temporarily in what was depicted as a disagreement with new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan, and that has made the spotlight on him even brighter as the new season approaches.

It wasn't a major incident eight days ago. Umenyiora rejoined the Giants later that same day, a few hours after departing. But Coach Tom Coughlin termed it an unexcused absence at the time and it was a new -- albeit modest, by comparison -- dose of drama for a team that endured the Plaxico Burress saga last year and began training camp this summer with the welcome news that linebacker Antonio Pierce had not been indicted by a grand jury for his role in the Burress incident.

Umenyiora apologized for his actions once he rejoined the Giants and rejected the notion that there might be a rift between him and Sheridan, who was promoted from linebackers coach after former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo departed after last season to become head coach of the St. Louis Rams.

"You can call it a disagreement," Umenyiora told reporters the day after his absence. "It was very minuscule and when I think about it, I can't believe I acted that way. It was so uncharacteristic of me, but I just did it and I'm sorry for it. I apologized and hopefully we can move on from there. . . . When I came back and actually thought about what was going to happen and the repercussions for doing something like that, that's when I was surprised.

"That's definitely not in my character to behave that way. I don't behave that way and I don't plan on behaving that way again."

For Umenyiora, the next step is to take the field against the Redskins and begin to prove that he is the same player he once was. He led the Giants in sacks in four straight seasons between 2004 and 2007, even while playing alongside standout pass rushers such as Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck. Umenyiora was selected to Pro Bowls in the 2005 and 2007 seasons, and he combined with Strahan and Tuck to anchor the pass rush that helped the Giants to their Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots after the 2007 season.

Umenyiora's Super Bowl encore was cut short when he missed all of last season after tearing cartilage in his left knee during a preseason game against the New York Jets. Now he's back, and he said during a training camp interview that he knew as far back as offseason drills that his knee was sound and the explosiveness had returned to his game.

"I already know that," Umenyiora said last month at the Giants' camp in Albany, N.Y. "I knew it in the [offseason] workouts and practices. I know I'm the same player. I have to be smart about it. There could be some setbacks. But I know I'm the same player."

Having Umenyiora and Tuck back in the lineup together gives the Giants a potentially formidable pass rush to test a Redskins offensive line that has been a question mark since last season. Still, Umenyiora stopped short last month of predicting that this Giants pass rush will be more imposing than that of the club's Super Bowl season.

"I can't say that," Umenyiora said. "Michael Strahan was a Hall of Fame player, and he's not here any more. We have good players here that can get the job done, but we have to go out and do it and prove it like that team did."

The Giants have been eager since training camp began to get to the new season and try to make amends for their disappointing finish to last season. They looked more than capable of repeating as Super Bowl champions before the November incident in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub. The Giants weren't the same thereafter. Quarterback Eli Manning lacked his favorite receiver and the Giants struggled late in the regular season, then lost an NFC semifinal at home to the Philadelphia Eagles.

"It was shocking," Pierce said in training camp this summer. "It was just one of those things where, you know what, there's a lot you can learn from those types of seasons. In the '07 season, our confidence was building. We were confident. We were playing very well. We just didn't play very well [last season] in the month of December. It kind of carried over.

"It always carries over into January. You saw teams like the Eagles and Cardinals, who didn't really play well midseason, they picked it up and advanced to the [NFC] championship game. You have to be playing your best football in December. You can get off to a great start. The Titans were 10-0. Same thing. They were out the same time we were out. It's how you finish."

Several Giants players said during training camp that they put the Burress incident behind them for good when a Manhattan grand jury voted, just as the team was getting to Albany, not to indict Pierce on a weapon possession charge. Burress was indicted and later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge, agreeing to serve a two-year prison sentence under a plea deal.

While in Albany, the Giants also signed Manning to a six-year, $97.5 million contract extension that means he is to be paid $106.9 million over the next seven seasons, including the one year that remained on his previous deal. The attention during the Giants' preseason largely was focused on which of Manning's pass catchers might emerge as a No. 1 wideout to replace Burress, with rookie first-round draft pick Hakeem Nicks providing a few eye-catching moments to solidify his candidacy.

Now the games are about to count, and there's no shortage of story lines as the Giants attempt to re-establish the NFC supremacy they lost late last season.

"I think you always want to get off to a fast start and set the start of the season in a good mood and good atmosphere, get that winning feeling going," Manning told reporters last week. "We start off the season with some tough games. Washington is always a tough team. . . . It is kind of what the preseason is for, to get some of these bumps and bruises, to get some of these little things worked out where once the season starts you've got to start out playing well from the get-go. You don't have a whole lot of time to get hot or to work things out because it might be too late by the time you get that figured out. So we know that we've got to . . . play well early on and keep that going."