Glauber: Osi continues to grumble

If the Giants go into the regular season with the same defensive lineup they used in Day 1 of mini-camp, Osi Umenyiora will not be a happy man. Now the only question is whether he'll stick to the promise he made yesterday not to be a distraction if he continues as a backup to Mathias Kiwanuka.

So far, so good.

Umenyiora conceded yesterday his behavior last year was destructive to team chemistry because of frequent run-ins with former defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan. The 28-year-old defensive end vowed he'll be a good soldier, regardless of the way the depth chart reads this time around.

"I made the mistake of behaving the way I did, and it was very selfish of me," said Umenyiora, who briefly walked away from the team late in the preseason last year because of frustrations with Sheridan's criticism of his play. "I wasn't thinking of the total team concept and the way it would look and the way people would respond to me doing something like that. If I'm not happy, people look to me as a leader and it's going to be difficult."

And this year under defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who replaced the ineffective Sheridan after last year's woeful defensive performance?

"No matter what happens this year," Umenyiora said, "I'm going to maintain a positive outlook and go on from there."

Or will he? Umenyiora said he'll accept a backup role if his play warrants it.

"But the minute I'm playing the way I'm capable of playing and I'm not on the field, then there's going to be a problem."

Threat? Well, let's just say he has put the Giants on notice . . . but only if he believes there's clear evidence he deserves to get the lion's share of playing time.

Umenyiora's struggles last season were symptomatic of the Giants' defensive problems overall. Coming back from knee surgery the year before, he had only seven sacks, fewer than half his career high of 14½ in 2005 and six fewer than the 13 he had in the Giants' Super Bowl season in 2007. He was eventually replaced by Kiwanuka, the former first-round pick who is considered a better run defender than Umenyiora.

Fewell is sticking with Kiwanuka as his starter for now, but Umenyiora believes it will be a fair fight to see which player earns the starting job going into the season.

"I'd hope there are no biases held toward anyone," Umenyiora said. "I would expect that everything this year would be clean and fresh, and we'd go through it. I feel like I'm still one of the best defensive ends in the league in my head. That's all that counts. All I know is the best players have to play this year. We have to win. No question about that. There's too much at stake this year."

And if he can't beat out Kiwanuka?

"Then I know that in my heart I truly wasn't the best player," Umenyiora said. "And I'll be OK with that. It's definitely difficult, but you just have to have the intestinal fortitude to be able to handle that. If not, then I'd just lay down and not do anything. I can't allow that to happen."

Umenyiora credits his newfound perspective to a recent chat he had with former Giants linebacker LaVar Arrington, with whom he remains close.

"He said, 'At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. You have your family. You have your kid. You're making money. It might not be what you want, but at the end of the day, there are a lot of people doing a whole lot worse than you are, so you have to factor in all those things when you're making decisions and saying things that people might not agree with. People are looking at you and they're like, 'There's a recession. People are losing their jobs, and you're whining about all this?' "

Words to live by. Now we'll see if Umenyiora can manage to keep that outlook if more disappointment lies ahead. We'll take him at his word. Sounds as if the man has his priorities in order.

Let's just see if that stays the same should things not go the way he hopes.