FanHouse Osiumenyiora

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- So you miss a whole year with an injury. You make goofy headlines for storming out of a team meeting two weeks before the start of the season. You're Osi Umenyiora, and for months all you could think about was getting back on a football field, in a real game.

Umenyiora finally did that Sunday night in the Giants' 23-17 victory over the Redskins, and it went about as well as it possibly could have gone. The Giants' star defensive end made the play of the game, stripping Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell of the ball, recovering the fumble and running it back 37 yards for a touchdown to put the Giants up 17-0 in the second quarter.

The NFL season is four weeks away, so FanHouse is at Giants training camp for Stop 5 and Mile 996 of Dan Graziano's five-camp, 1,100-mile road trip.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- There is professional pride and there is the truth, and there are times when the former must step aside for the latter. That's what's happening here at Giants training camp, where the defensive line is throwing a twice-daily party in 11-on-11 team drills. They bat and intercept throws. They crash through holes. They live in the backfield. They mix up formations as if the base 4-3 has become too easy and no longer holds their interest.

The Giants suffered the injury bug early in the season, losing defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a knee injury before their first regular season game. Lucky for New York, that is about the only injury that's affected their impressive run.

Brandon Jacobs, the fourth-leading rusher in the NFL, tweaked his knee on Sunday in the win over the Ravens. Jacobs left the game after gaining 70 yards in the first quarter against a Baltimore defense that hadn't given up a 100-yard rusher in 28 straight games, and only had two carries in the second half for the G-Men.

Good news coming from the Giants camp, as the MRI came back very positive.

Brandon Jacobs' MRI from today revealed no structural damage to his injured knee, according to someone familiar with the results of the test.

"Nothing serious," the source said. "Just swollen and sore."

The Giants have a huge NFC matchup this weekend against the Cardinals at the site of their Super Bowl victory last season and with an explosive Arizona offense that seems to score at will, the Giants will need all their horses to keep up on the scoreboard.

If the tweaked knee does need rest, the Giants are blessed with a fairly impressive crew of running backs to spell Jacobs if need be. Ahmad Bradshaw has only had one game this season with double-digit carries yet has racked up 301 yards and Derrick Ward is averaging 5.3 yards per carry when he gets the touches.

Update: Jacobs spoke on The Opening Drive with Bob Papa and Randy Cross about his knee, via PFT.

"I feel pretty good," Jacobs said during a segment on The Opening Drive with Bob Papa and Randy Cross. "I feel way better than I felt Sunday after the game. I did the same thing I did against Dallas last year but it's nowhere near as bad as it was then. I'll be fine. It's my call and we'll be alright."

Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.

There are many problems with the MVP award in almost every sport. Primarily, it is dependent on how one's team performs -- you simply cannot be classified as valuable on team that isn't winning a lot. (Note that there is some logic there, but not enough to justify the exclusion of some players from consideration.)

But the beauty of the MVP in football is that generally speaking, there is a clear cut individual whose performance over the course of 16 game is so distinctly dominant that there is less of an argument re: who should win. Except when Peyton Manning and Steve McNair tie. Then it gets awkward.

Oh yes, and this year; a football season where there is absolutely -- the Tennessee Titans excluded, and more on that in a second -- no single dominant team that magnifies an individual performance. So, seriously, I ask you again, who is the MVP this year?

There's an abundance of news storming out of New York today regarding the Cowboys and the Giants matchup today. For starters, it's believed that a bunch of Cowboys *gasp* don't actually want Brad Johnson quarterbacking their team. Go figure.

But in vastly more important news, a box of Terrell Owens "I Love Me Some Me" t-shirts showed up at the Giants locker room for today's game, and Ed Werder reported on ESPN that most of the Giants believe it was TO himself that sent them.

This is, to make an understatement, pretty believable. After all, it's been said recently that the Giants and Cowboys aren't really friendly

"They hate us and we hate them," [Giants DE Justin Tuck] said in all seriousness.

Well then, I'm sure Tuck was just thrilled to find out that TO is shipping clothing items their way. And in true rivalry fashion, the Giants have already said they plan on making sure Owens is paid back.

Werder didn't have details of the specific action that would be dished out, but he did say that it would involved popcorn, long believed to be Owens favorite treat.

And yes, I do feel somewhat like Kenny Mayne reporting this, but it's not going to seem so sarcastic when Osi Umenyiora comes flying down onto the field, hooked up on a bungee cord, and starts dumping popcorn all over TO's chest. Then it'll just be funny.

Alrighty, people, it's go time.

The 2008 season kicks off tonight and the Washington Redskins are hoping to score more points before John McCain's speech than the previous two weeks combined. The New York Giants just signed Plaxico Burress to a shiny, new deal, and Jerome McDougle will be reprising the role of Osi Umenyiora. Oh, and in case you missed it: John Madden still can't quit Brett Favre.

Okay, we're gonna live-blog like it's 1999 -- Ocho Cinco for everybody!

NFL teams spent most of yesterday reducing their respective rosters to 53 players. There were plenty of surprising names looking for work by the close of business, and today, these same teams are scrambling to sign the newly out of work to fill various needs up and down the depth chart.

Exhibit A: Enrico wrote that the Eagles had decided to part ways with 2003 first-round pick Jerome McDougle, who suffered through various injuries (including getting shot in '05 during an attempted robbery) and only managed three sacks in five years.

Less than 24 hours later, McDougle is gainfully employed, thanks to Michael Strahan opting to stay retired after Osi Umenyiora was lost for the season with a knee injury. That's right, McDougle's a Giant.

Fellow FanHouser Tom Mantzouranis took little time after Osi Umenyiora tore his knee to wonder if the Giants would try to lure Michael Strahan out of retirement.

The Giants have lost their top two defensive ends from last year and could be tempted to ask Strahan if he'd come back.

According to one source, Strahan could be coaxed out of retirement if the price is right:

"If the Giants make a sincere overture, it's a good chance that Strahan would consider coming back," the source said, according to the Daily News. "There are other things he has to take into consideration: the money and his contract with Fox."

Strahan currently holds a position at Fox Sports as an NFL studio analyst.

"But if the Giants really want him, they have a shot," the source said. "It's not out of the question."

Giants co-owner Steve Tisch says that they'd be stupid to not at least gauge Strahan's interest in playing. Strahan, who is in Greece vacationing, told NFL Network that he has heard about Umenyiora's injury but hasn't heard from the Giants.

Oh ... and according to the Daily News, "nicely" means "$8 million".

As I mentioned earlier, the Giants have far more questions than answers to the season-ending injury to Osi Umenyiora. One of those questions is whether or not the Giants will call Michael Strahan and lure him out of retirement.

If Strahan wants to come back, and I think he would for the right money seeing as how he would have taken $8 million to return this season, he'll probably be asking for something similar to the $12 million Brett Favre is getting from the Jets. Luckily, the Giants have enough cap room to afford that type of hit. But then there's the question of how quickly Strahan could be ready to play with meaningful games coming up quickly.

But that's assuming he wants to play. And that's assuming the Giants want him to play. Though it seems like a no-brainer, since Strahan will eventually get into shape and provide the talent and experience of an All Pro, there has been no contact between the two sides. Yet.

"I haven't heard from anybody on 92. As far as I'm concerned, he's working for Fox," said Agnone, who also represents Umenyiora. "If something comes into play, we'll talk about it. Until that point, anything else is speculation."

Tom Coughlin concurs on the matter. That being said, I have a hard time believing the Giants' decision makers wake up tomorrow morning, pinch themselves to make sure it wasn't just a bad dream, look at what their options are and decide calling Strahan and offering him whatever he wants isn't the only viable move to make. And I'd be surprised if Strahan doesn't take the offer. Whether Strahan could match Umenyiora's production is unknown, but bringing back the legend would certainly be better from a personnel and marketing standpoint than going into the season with what they have now.

Redskins fans, players, coaches and especially Jason Taylor breathed a sigh of relief when an MRI confirmed he has just a sprain in his knee. Taylor hurt his knee in a pile when his leg bent like legs aren't supposed to bend.

"It looks like there's no ligament damage," coach Jim Zorn said. "He could be out for 10 days or as much as two weeks. We are just waiting to see what type of a heeler he's going to be."

By the way, that's an AP story via ESPN.com that misspelled "healer".

It isn't known if Taylor will miss the Redskins season opener against the New York Football Giants. Remember that the game is on Thursday, September 4th ... making it on the best-case-scenario side of the prognosis.

I think he'll miss that game, giving him another ten days to get it healthier.

The Giants also lost their big name defensive end yesterday, when Osi Umenyiora blew out his knee against the Jets.