Football Giants' Umenyiora AWOL after dispute

[GotGibson?]

Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora missed practice Monday without giving Giants coach Tom Coughlin an explanation.

Umenyiora, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, attended meetings in the morning at the team's headquarters. However, he left unexpectedly without talking to Coughlin and didn't return for the workout.

A league source confirmed a Newark Star-Ledger report that Umenyiora skipped practice after getting into a dispute with new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan. Sheridan, the former linebackers coach who replaced Steve Spagnuolo as coordinator, reportedly criticized Umenyiora for making a mistake in Saturday's game against the Jets.

Umenyiora surfaced later in the evening and issued a statement.

"I made a mistake by leaving the facility today," the statement said. "I was wrong. I came in here this afternoon and met with coach Coughlin, coach Sheridan and coach [Mike] Waufle and apologized and explained why I left the building; that will remain between us. I have no problem with our defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan or any of our coaches. That's the end of it, as far as I am concerned."

Earlier Monday, Coughlin had said: "We will have to talk to him when he gets back. Obviously he is not here, so I am concerned."

Later Monday night, a source said that Umenyiora had spoken to Coughlin and that he would return to the team on Tuesday.

After the defensive end didn't show for practice, New York general manager Jerry Reese sent a text message to Umenyiora to ask him if he was all right. Umenyiora responded that he was, but didn't explain why he left.

The absence will be considered unexcused, so Umenyiora likely will be fined.

"There must have been something of a personal nature, and he left," Coughlin had said before speaking to Umenyiora. "I haven't personally talked to him. He did respond to Jerry, evidently by text. That's all I have. I haven't seen him, so I can't tell you."

After missing the last two preseason games with a sore foot, middle linebacker Antonio Pierce returned to practice on Monday.

Starting left guard David Diehl did not practice because of soreness in his kneecap. He will not play against the New England Patriots on Thursday in the preseason finale.

Also missing practice were safety Kenny Phillips, cornerback Aaron Ross, halfback Danny Ware, receiver David Tyree and defensive tackle Chris Canty.

Backup offensive tackle Guy Whimper, who was filling in for Diehl, had to leave practice with a hip flexor after colliding with halfback Brandon Jacobs. Free agent offensive lineman Andrew Carnahan twisted a knee.

Coughlin did not know the extent of their injuries.

 

[tlw9191]

Thanks for the copy and paste.

 

[GotGibson?]

Giants' Umenyiora regrets walkout

An embarrassed Osi Umenyiora said he overreacted when he walked out of practice on Monday -- and he's paying for it.

The two-time Pro Bowl defensive end with the New York Giants acknowledged he had a minor tiff with his new defensive coordinator, but said his decision to skip practice was probably the worst thing he has done in his NFL career.

Umenyiora on Tuesday declined to disclose the nature of his disagreement with coordinator Bill Sheridan, saying only the issue that set him off was "minuscule" and never should have escalated.

The Giants fined Umenyiora an undisclosed amount of money that the player said would feed a lot of people in undeveloped countries.

"Do I regret it? Absolutely," Umenyiora said after practice on Tuesday. "It was a very, very bad moral decision on my part and an even worse financial decision on my part. So everything is cool now. I talked to who I needed to talk to and apologized to those I had to apologize to. It was so stupid and trivial for me to do that. Sometimes when you get emotional, things happen like that."

Umenyiora and Sheridan, the linebackers coach who was elevated to defensive coordinator after Steve Spagnuolo was hired as coach of the St. Louis Rams, have known each other for five years.

"It's not like he just got here," Umenyiora said. "He has been here a while and I have known him forever. This is not the first time I've had a conversation with him, it's just so happened that this was the first time I took it that way and it is going to be the last time."

The Giants did not make Sheridan available for comment on Tuesday.

Coach Tom Coughlin believed the issue was resolved after Umenyiora talked with Sheridan and defensive line coach Mike Waufle.

"I'm very confident it won't happen again," Coughlin said.

Umenyiora, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, attended team meetings on Monday morning and obviously was upset with something Sheridan said.

When the team went out to practice, Umenyiora was gone and Coughlin did not know why.

General manager Jerry Reese eventually reached Umenyiora by text message to make sure he was all right.

By that time, Umenyiora said he had returned to team headquarters, where he waited out practice. He later met with the coaches.

"It is not in my character to behave that way," said Umenyiora, who had six sacks against the Eagles in a game in 2007. "I have never behaved that way, and I don't plan on behaving that way again."

What surprised Umenyiora was the publicity the walkout generated.

"I promise you I never would have stepped out of this building if would have known the repercussions," he said. "The text messages and people thinking I was dead. I didn't know it would turn into that, but it did. I know better. I think everybody is allowed one mistake, and this is my one big mistake. I am not going to repeat nothing like that every again."

Fellow defensive end Justin Tuck said players frequently argue with coaches.

"That's one of the reasons the D-line room is so chaotic," Tuck said. "Waufle encourages them. We have them daily with him. This is possibly the biggest and the first with the defensive coordinator."

Teammates, of course, didn't let Umenyiora forget it.

When he reported to the locker room on Tuesday, he said there were wanted signs for him, offering a $1 million reward. Had the players had time, his face also would have been on milk cartons.

As Tuck was talking to the media, he noticed Umenyiora walking out of the locker room.

"Oosh, you weren't here yesterday?" a laughing Tuck said. "Where did you go?"

When the laughter stopped, Tuck got serious about a Giants team that endured a major distraction last season after Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub.

"We are pretty good with incidents that might seem to be a distraction to this football team," he said. "I honestly think the incidents bring us closer together. We chalk it up and have some laughs about it, talk about it, have the serious part of the conversation first and then the rest, it's kind of like laughing. That's the way we are, understanding that sometimes, things can escalate bigger than what was intended to begin with."

 

[tlw9191]

Another copy and paste. :woo:

 

[cwells52]

Osi