Osi Umenyiora does not believe in forgiveness, at least not when it comes to a certain Philadelphia Eagles running back.  Read more after the jump.
It’s been nearly five months since the Giants defensive end traded barbs with the Eagles’ LeSean McCoy, since McCoy tweeted that Umenyiora was “overrated†and “soft,†and Umenyiora dubbed the tailback “Lady Gaga.â€
But Umenyiora has not forgotten.
“What he did was unforgivable,†Umenyiora said. “Do you understand what I mean? Because whenever you see a man in a contract dispute, a fellow NFL player, you don’t take that opportunity to take your shots at him. You wait until you’re about to play him, then you take your shots. . . . This, if he was going to say something, should have been the week he said some things like that.â€
Read between the lines, and you can feel Umenyiora making a statement.
McCoy bashed Umenyiora in the middle of June. But this week, the NFC East
-leading leading Giants have heard nothing but silence from the typically chatty McCoy and slumping Philadelphia. From wideout DeSean Jackson’s contract discontent to quarterback Michael Vick’s rib injury, the 3-6 Eagles have too many problems to trash-talk.
It is the Giants who move with swagger. They plan to keep things that way, too, by shutting down — and consequently shutting up — the loud-mouthed McCoy
on Sunday night.
It will be no easy task. Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell called McCoy a “headache,†and safety Antrel Rolle pegged him “a hard guy to tackle in the open field,†something Umenyiora knows well. When the teams met last November, Umenyiora missed a critical tackle on a 50-yard McCoy TD run.
“I think, especially if Vick doesn’t play, our main focus will be on trying to shut him down,†Umenyiora said. “We have to do some things to control him. It’s going to be hard.â€
If the Giants can stop McCoy, it will be the latest example of a run defense finding its way. In Week 3, he gashed Big Blue for 128 yards, but the Giants believe they have improved since then.
Last week, they held 49ers star Frank Gore without a yard — Gore, of course, had only six carries before he was injured and left the game — and a second shutdown effort would suggest they’ve solved their early-season problems.
“We’ve got another great challenge in McCoy,†said defensive end Justin Tuck. “We’ll find out a lot about ourselves as far as the run game is concerned.â€
As good as Gore is, McCoy places even more pressure on the defense. If Vick indeed sits — and all indications are that he will after missing the entire week of practice — McCoy is expected to shoulder the offensive load.
His specialty is darting into one gap, prodding a defender to move out of position, then jumping to a new opening, Giants defensive end Dave Tollefson said. That will challenge the discipline of a defense that could rely heavily on its young linebackers due to veteran Michael Boley’s hamstring injury.
Boley, the defense’s key play-caller, has not even run this week, and is considered doubtful for Sunday. Boley’s absence will hurt, but a A ferocious, still-stewing Umenyiora hopes to compensate for Boley’s absence.
“He ran his mouth,†Umenyiora said of McCoy. “He crossed the line that shouldn’t have been crossed. I’m not really concerned about that. I’ll see him on the football field, and we’ll go from there.â€
