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Warning signs with Osi?

BigPete

By BigPete
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BigPete

BigPete

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Osi recently expressed that he believes he is the starter and that if he had to genuinely fight for the starting spot "it's not going to be good for this team at all"

 

signs the Osi drama isn't over?

 

from kffl.com

 

Giants | Osi Umenyiora believes starting job his to lose

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Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:23:55 -0400

 

New York Giants DE Osi Umenyiora said he believes the starting defensive end is his job to lose and believes his backup role to DE Mathias Kiwanuka is temporary, according to New York Daily News' Ralph Vacchiano. "I feel like I'm still one of the best defensive ends in the league in my head. That's pretty much all that counts. If I really decided to start thinking about (having to win the job), it's not going to be good for this team at all," Umenyiora said.

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BigPete

BigPete

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Geez, this guy can't handle competition.

I had assumed this issue had turned a corner and Osi was on the same page as the team.

 

The problem is that Osi expects to be the starter. I guess he feels that he has paid his dues. He doesn't want to have to fight or earn a starting job based on performances. This is fundamentally contrary to Coughlin's and the team philosophy.

 

It seems to me the situation with Osi hasn't changed all that much and won't change. There may also be the fact that he wants his big payday.

 

Sad as I am to say this, it may be time to trade Osi. I don't see how this issue can be resolved long term.

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BigPete

BigPete

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He is also disrespecting Kiwanuka. But based on last year's performance, Kiwanuka deserves the first shot at a starting gig; Umenyiora has to prove on the field that he is better.

 

from http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2010/06/15/2010-06-15_osi_umenyiora_ok_with_backup_role_with_new_york_giants__for_now.html

 

Osi Umenyiora OK with backup role with New York Giants - for now

 

By Ralph Vacchiano

Daily News Sports Writer

 

Tuesday, June 15th 2010, 2:14 PM

New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora doesn't think he'll be a backup for very long.

 

 

Osi Umenyiora opened up the Giants' mini-camp Tuesday the same way he ended his miserable 2009 season - as a second-string defensive end. And he insists he's OK with that unwanted role.

 

Sort of. And for now.

 

"If I truly was not the best player, then I'd be cool with it," Umenyiora said after Tuesday morning's practice. "But if I feel like I am the best player - and everybody in this league knows the type of player I am - the minute in my mind I'm playing the way I'm capable of playing and I'm not on the field, then of course it's going to be a problem."

 

Consider that a bit of a warning shot that Umenyiora still isn't thrilled with a situation that had him threatening to retire back in February. He said most of the right things, insisting that he wouldn't be a distraction and he'd "maintain a positive attitude" no matter what his role ends up being.

 

But he also made it clear that he believes his role as a backup to Mathias Kiwanuka is temporary, and that he views the starting job as his to lose.

 

"I definitely don't look at it that way at all," Umenyiora said when asked if he felt like he had to win the job this summer. "I feel like I'm still one of the best defensive ends in the league in my head. That's pretty much all that counts. If I really decided to start thinking about (having to win the job), it's not going to be good for this team at all."

 

Umenyiora did get some work in with the first team today, as new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell rotating him and Kiwanuka - - something that likely will happen during the regular season, too. Umenyiora said he hasn't spoken with Fewell about the specifics of that rotation or how much playing time each of the ends - - including Justin Tuck, Dave Tollefson and first-round pick Jason Pierre-Paul - can expect to receive.

 

It didn't sound like he planned to have that conversation, either.

 

"All I know is the best players have to play this year," Umenyiora said. "You understand? They have to. We have to win. There's no question about that. There's too much on the line right now. If it ends up that I'm not in there, then I know in my heart that I truly wasn't the best player. And I'll be OK with that."

 

Except that Umenyiora likely would never concede that he's not the best player. He still believes he was the best player last year, despite being benched for Kiwanuka after Thanksgiving ("I just know that when I wasn't in there, was there a dramatic improvement?" Umenyiora said. "Did we get better?"). And when a reporter suggested to him that Kiwanuka won't be easy to beat out for a job this summer, Umenyiora said "You don't think so?"

 

"He's a good football player, no question about that, no argument there," Umenyiora said. "Been to Hawaii though? It's hard. Very, very difficult. You have to be of a certain pedigree to get over there."

 

Still, this all may have been more of a show of confidence from Umenyiora, rather than the defiance that was on display earlier in the offseason. He wasn't demanding his starting job back, as he did back in February. This time he was saying that he deserved it.

 

That's a somewhat softer approach that Umenyiora said he's taking because he knows that his behavior - - which included storming out of a defensive meeting after a dispute with former defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan - - was a distraction to the Giants last year.

 

"That was my fault," he said. "I made the mistake of behaving (badly) last year. It was very selfish of me because I wasn't thinking of the total team concept and looking at the way people would respond to me doing something like that."

 

So, while he said it's "definitely different and it's definitely difficult" being a backup, he's willing to deal with it … for now.

 

"You just have to have the intestinal fortitude to be able to handle things like that, the mental capacity to handle things like that," he said. "If not, then I'd just go out there lay down and not do anything. I can not allow that to happen. No way. I must go out there and play the way I'm capable of playing."

 

And if he does that, he believes he'll be back with the first team soon enough.

 

If not? Well, stay tuned.

 

 

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BleedinBlue

BleedinBlue

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Osi has a lot of talent. But if he can't beat out Kiwi, then it simply means Kiwi is better. Osi needs to come down off his high horse and reign in his ego. If he's half as good as his mouth tells us he is, then he has no reason to talk at all.

 

An old saying my father used to say is, "your actions speak so loud, no one hears a word you're saying".

 

Osi needs to put up and shut up. If he can't put up, then he's going to be playing for another team and it isn't going to be any easier just because he changes uniforms or doesn't have anyone challenging him for a starting spot.

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JMFP

JMFP

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Look at the last couple seasons, it's clear that Osi, if he plays well, will be a starter.

 

For example, last season Tuck should have been put on IR.....if Osi had played up to his potential, Kiwi would have slid into Tuck's spot, and Osi would have been the starter at his normal position.

 

The year before that, Kiwi went down.

 

The point is, if everyone plays up to their potential, there will be room for everyone.

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BigPete

BigPete

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this is all opposite to what the beat writers are reporting.

 

the beat writers are all saying he is actually embracing the competition and has a great attitude so far.

 

I suspect it depends on how you look at the comments by Osi. I think the beat writers are being cautious (rightly so)

 

They are all saying that Osi is happy for now, but that he believes he is a better player than Kiwanuka and expects to be the starter.

 

I think if you consider Osi's comments carefully there is a double-edged component to it.

 

- If Osi isn't starting, and he believes he is playing well - that will be a big problem.

 

Those comments about Kiwanuka's pedigree is just crap. No player should talk about a team mate like that.

 

 

As others have said, it is time for Osi to shut up and prove on the field how good he is.

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Sephiroth

Sephiroth

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I suspect it depends on how you look at the comments by Osi. I think the beat writers are being cautious (rightly so)

 

They are all saying that Osi is happy for now, but that he believes he is a better player than Kiwanuka and expects to be the starter.

 

I think if you consider Osi's comments carefully there is a double-edged component to it.

 

- If Osi isn't starting, and he believes he is playing well - that will be a big problem.

 

Those comments about Kiwanuka's pedigree is just crap. No player should talk about a team mate like that.

 

 

As others have said, it is time for Osi to shut up and prove on the field how good he is.

 

I agree. Osi had better be careful about lighting his own fire under Kiwi's ass talking like that.

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Nas

Nas

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Osi has a lot of talent. But if he can't beat out Kiwi, then it simply means Kiwi is better.

 

Thank you Mr Obvious. :rolleyes:

 

Look at the last couple seasons, it's clear that Osi, if he plays well, will be a starter.

 

Thank you, Mr Obvious. :rolleyes:

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BigPete

BigPete

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I think it is inevitable that this will be a problem down the track, it is just a matter of when. Even if Osi beats out Kiwanuka this year, there is still JPP waiting in the wings.

 

Osi's attitude may be a reason we drafted JPP, the front office are looking at going in different directions sooner or later.

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Gman329

Gman329

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I agree. Osi had better be careful about lighting his own fire under Kiwi's ass talking like that.

 

 

That's what I'm thinking. You think Kiwi is getting a little tired of hearing Osi talk like it's an insult to be playing behind him?

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Bigblue25

Bigblue25

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I think it is inevitable that this will be a problem down the track, it is just a matter of when. Even if Osi beats out Kiwanuka this year, there is still JPP waiting in the wings.

 

Osi's attitude may be a reason we drafted JPP, the front office are looking at going in different directions sooner or later.

JPP was a 2011 draft pick, that we got in 2010, we looked at the possibility of having neither Osi or Kiwi at the end of the year, and got our guy, hell I wouldn't be shocked if we draft another DE next year, Robert Quinn?, hopefully we won't be picking that high!

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fringe

fringe

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JPP was a 2011 draft pick, that we got in 2010, we looked at the possibility of having neither Osi or Kiwi at the end of the year, and got our guy, hell I wouldn't be shocked if we draft another DE next year, Robert Quinn?, hopefully we won't be picking that high!

 

he'd have to change his name to something much more exotic.

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Bigblue25

Bigblue25

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he'd have to change his name to something much more exotic.

well we have Tuck, thats not really exotic, but yeah D'Quan Bowers sounds more like a Giants DE, last time a overhyped DE we picked with a plain name was Cedric Jones

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fringe

fringe

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well we have Tuck, thats not really exotic, but yeah D'Quan Bowers sounds more like a Giants DE, last time a overhyped DE we picked with a plain name was Cedric Jones

Yup. Thanks for that memory; p

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BronxRik

BronxRik

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he'd have to change his name to something much more exotic.

 

Ala Chris Berman:

 

"....and Robert 'Mighty' Quinn changes despair into joy and chaos into rest on the Giants defense with 7 sacks today against the Eagles...."

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