Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora was scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his troublesome right knee Friday morning.

“It’s a simple debridement,” Ronnie Barnes, the team’s vice president of medical services, said on the morning of the procedure.  Umenyiora’s recovery time will be approximately three to four weeks.

“It was better to do it now as opposed to midseason. It was going to have to be done, the only question was when,” Umenyiora said through the team. “If I’m going to miss a little while, I would prefer it be now than at the crucial part of our season. It’s the best decision for the team and myself.”

The procedure was to be performed by team physician Dr. Russell Warren at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

Umenyiora, 29, just returned to practice this week, after a specialist in Atlanta told him he would not need surgery on his knee.

“Osi called me at the end of the day yesterday to let me know that he wanted to have the surgery now,” Giants general manager Jerry Reese said Friday. “After practicing for three days he had some swelling in the knee, and it was clear that we were going to have to adjust his practice routine to every other day to maintain his knee.

“Osi’s feeling is he wants to get it cleaned up now because he is looking forward to playing this season, and he wants to do it without the knee being an issue for him. He told me how much he really enjoyed being back on the field this week, and he’s looking forward to getting back out there once he recovers from the procedure.”

Umenyiora, who had 11.5 sacks and forced 10 fumbles last season, has been at odds with Giants management over his contract, which has two years remaining and $7.1 million in base salary.

WRITTEN BY Ohm Youngmisuk covers the Giants for ESPNNewYork.com. Mike Mazzeo is a regular contributor to ESPNNewYork.com & FULL STORY HERE