The good news for the Giants? Disgruntled defensive end Osi Umenyiora received clearance to return to practice from a doctor in Georgia, despite a balky knee.
The bad news? The situation remains vague and ominous, with Umenyiora leaving plenty of wiggle room in his less-than-unequivocal willingness to practice and play.
“Probably,” is all agent Tony Agnone would tell Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News regarding the question of whether Umenyiora will practice Monday. “We’ll see how things go from here.”
And even though Osi has a green light to practice, the possibility of a problem remains.
“The doctor said ‘You don’t need the surgery right away,’ which is nice,” Agnone said. “So we’ll consult with Dr. [Russell] Warren [the Giants’ team physician] and [trainer] Ronnie Barnes and we’ll figure out the schedule. Hopefully he’ll be back on the field sooner or later.”
Meanwhile, Umenyiora tells the Associated Press that no progress has been made regarding his desire to get more money. “No real progress as far as the contract goes,” Umenyiora said in an e-mail message.
And so it’s impossible to separate Osi’s knee and his wallet. If he were happy with his contract, he’d probably be playing. And if the Giants were to make him happy, his knee probably would be healed.
Frankly, we’d have more respect for Umenyiora’s position if he’d just leave camp and hold out.