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Knee Injury Ends Season for Umenyiora
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Knee Injury Ends Season for Umenyiora
By MIKE OGLE
Published: August 24, 2008
Half of the defensive line that propelled the Giants to a Super Bowl victory last season is gone.
Suzy Allman for The New York Times
Osi Umenyiora limped off the field after injuring his left knee in the second quarter.
Related
Umenyiora Injures Left Knee in Giants’ Loss (August 24, 2008)
A magnetic resonance imaging test on Sunday revealed that defensive end Osi Umenyiora tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee on Saturday during the second quarter of the Giants’ 10-7 preseason loss to the Jets. The Giants, who lost defensive end Michael Strahan to retirement in the off-season, now will also be without Umenyiora for the season.
Umenyiora will have an operation Tuesday to repair the cartilage damage. The team physician Dr. Russell Warren told Coach Tom Coughlin that four months is the normal recovery time for such an injury.
“It was obviously the news I didn’t want to hear,” Coughlin said on a conference call with reporters Sunday afternoon.
Coughlin and the players were hopeful on Saturday night that Umenyiora’s injury was not severe, an optimism helped along by the fact that team doctors, after preliminary evaluations, thought there was no ligament tear. Instead, it was cartilage damage that caused Umenyiora’s knee to lock up while pursuing quarterback Brett Favre.
Coughlin had not met with the team since learning that Umenyiora would miss the season, so he would not comment on how he would proceed with the defensive front. But when asked, he did not rule out the possibilities of moving linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka back to defensive end or talking to Strahan, 36, about coming out of retirement.
Kiwanuka was moved to linebacker last season when the Giants had Umenyiora and Strahan on the ends. Coughlin said that someone on his staff had already raised the possibility of Strahan’s return, but that no serious discussion had taken place.
Coughlin said he spoke to Umenyiora by telephone.
“He was obviously subdued, but he assured me that he was O.K.,” Coughlin said.
Umenyiora was the only Giants player selected to the Pro Bowl last season. He had 13 sacks, including a franchise-record six in one game against the Philadelphia Eagles in September.
The heavily favored and undefeated New England Patriots struggled to keep Giants defenders, including Umenyiora, out of their backfield in the Giants’ 17-14 Super Bowl victory. The Giants sacked quarterback Tom Brady five times, and Umenyiora had five hits on Brady and two quarterback hurries.
The Giants’ defense could be significantly diminished as they try to defend the N.F.L. title. Especially disheartening for the Giants was that the injury occurred during a preseason game.
“I think the No. 1 thing that strikes is frustration, anxiety, knots in your stomach, all the things that go along with the injury to the players that do not allow your team to function as it is presented on paper,” Coughlin said. “Those types of things are very difficult for coaches, no matter what age you are.”
Umenyiora, who was entering his sixth season out of Troy State, had had arthroscopic surgery in college to repair cartilage damage in the same knee.
The Giants play one preseason game, a Super Bowl rematch against the Patriots on Thursday, before opening the regular season Sept. 4 at home against the Washington Redskins.
In 2004, the Giants lost Strahan in their eighth game for the rest of the season because of a torn chest muscle. They proceeded to lose eight in a row, and finished the season 6-10.
The Giants tried to stay positive after the game. Some refused to talk about the possibility that they could be without Umenyiora. But the somber looks on their faces said that deep down, they feared the worst.
Kiwanuka, who broke his leg in the 10th game last season after moving from end to linebacker, said the Giants would have to push through injuries the way they did last year.
“We had a number of guys go down last season,” he said.
Defensive end Justin Tuck, who played much of last season at defensive tackle and had two sacks in the Super Bowl, said he understood what a blow losing Umenyiora would be.
“He definitely means a lot to this team and this franchise,” he said, emphasizing “a lot.”
By MIKE OGLE
Published: August 24, 2008
Half of the defensive line that propelled the Giants to a Super Bowl victory last season is gone.
Suzy Allman for The New York Times
Osi Umenyiora limped off the field after injuring his left knee in the second quarter.
Related
Umenyiora Injures Left Knee in Giants’ Loss (August 24, 2008)
A magnetic resonance imaging test on Sunday revealed that defensive end Osi Umenyiora tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee on Saturday during the second quarter of the Giants’ 10-7 preseason loss to the Jets. The Giants, who lost defensive end Michael Strahan to retirement in the off-season, now will also be without Umenyiora for the season.
Umenyiora will have an operation Tuesday to repair the cartilage damage. The team physician Dr. Russell Warren told Coach Tom Coughlin that four months is the normal recovery time for such an injury.
“It was obviously the news I didn’t want to hear,” Coughlin said on a conference call with reporters Sunday afternoon.
Coughlin and the players were hopeful on Saturday night that Umenyiora’s injury was not severe, an optimism helped along by the fact that team doctors, after preliminary evaluations, thought there was no ligament tear. Instead, it was cartilage damage that caused Umenyiora’s knee to lock up while pursuing quarterback Brett Favre.
Coughlin had not met with the team since learning that Umenyiora would miss the season, so he would not comment on how he would proceed with the defensive front. But when asked, he did not rule out the possibilities of moving linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka back to defensive end or talking to Strahan, 36, about coming out of retirement.
Kiwanuka was moved to linebacker last season when the Giants had Umenyiora and Strahan on the ends. Coughlin said that someone on his staff had already raised the possibility of Strahan’s return, but that no serious discussion had taken place.
Coughlin said he spoke to Umenyiora by telephone.
“He was obviously subdued, but he assured me that he was O.K.,” Coughlin said.
Umenyiora was the only Giants player selected to the Pro Bowl last season. He had 13 sacks, including a franchise-record six in one game against the Philadelphia Eagles in September.
The heavily favored and undefeated New England Patriots struggled to keep Giants defenders, including Umenyiora, out of their backfield in the Giants’ 17-14 Super Bowl victory. The Giants sacked quarterback Tom Brady five times, and Umenyiora had five hits on Brady and two quarterback hurries.
The Giants’ defense could be significantly diminished as they try to defend the N.F.L. title. Especially disheartening for the Giants was that the injury occurred during a preseason game.
“I think the No. 1 thing that strikes is frustration, anxiety, knots in your stomach, all the things that go along with the injury to the players that do not allow your team to function as it is presented on paper,” Coughlin said. “Those types of things are very difficult for coaches, no matter what age you are.”
Umenyiora, who was entering his sixth season out of Troy State, had had arthroscopic surgery in college to repair cartilage damage in the same knee.
The Giants play one preseason game, a Super Bowl rematch against the Patriots on Thursday, before opening the regular season Sept. 4 at home against the Washington Redskins.
In 2004, the Giants lost Strahan in their eighth game for the rest of the season because of a torn chest muscle. They proceeded to lose eight in a row, and finished the season 6-10.
The Giants tried to stay positive after the game. Some refused to talk about the possibility that they could be without Umenyiora. But the somber looks on their faces said that deep down, they feared the worst.
Kiwanuka, who broke his leg in the 10th game last season after moving from end to linebacker, said the Giants would have to push through injuries the way they did last year.
“We had a number of guys go down last season,” he said.
Defensive end Justin Tuck, who played much of last season at defensive tackle and had two sacks in the Super Bowl, said he understood what a blow losing Umenyiora would be.
“He definitely means a lot to this team and this franchise,” he said, emphasizing “a lot.”
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Comments
JS
<< <i>Im sure Dave will show with some picture of him lying on the field and say what a *ussy he is!
JS >>
Or he could just say this;
stalin, you pay perkdog yet?
1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
<< <i>just saw on ESPN that Strahan has made himself available for the right price. >>
Make sure you stick the dollar bills between his teeth.
JS
<< <i>
<< <i>just saw on ESPN that Strahan has made himself available for the right price. >>
Make sure you stick the dollar bills between his teeth.
JS >>
Speaking of dollar bills;
stalin, you pay perkdog yet?
1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
<< <i>just saw on ESPN that Strahan has made himself available for the right price. >>
8 mil for the year is what he wants.
JS
Sincerely,
Just one other reason the G-Men will not be making a run at the Super Bowl this Season.