Giants' Umenyiora playing well and in a good mood

Osi Umenyiora is looking forward to this bye week. It will give him a chance to rest his knees and hip, get his body back in order after a first half of the season in which he has played through pain. He's needed injections in his joints to keep going and has had to reduce his practice time during the week.

"I need it, no question about it," the defensive end said Wednesday.

The bye week is also a time when players talk about clearing their heads. But according to Umenyiora, that's not an issue for him. "My mind is always in the right place," he said.

Umenyiora is in such a good place mentally that he seems to have forgotten his tantrum during Super Bowl week last January when he threatened to retire if he was not a starter for the Giants, or the meetings he had to take with the coaches and front-office personnel during the spring to discuss his role. Never mind the incident last summer when he went AWOL after a disagreement with then defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan.

So for Umenyiora to say that he is "always" thinking straight may be inaccurate. But he's certainly been that way since the season started.

"I think his mental approach has affected his entire game," defensive line coach Robert Nunn said. "I think he came in here with the right mind-set. Our first meeting, he talked about getting his mind right. I think that has affected everything he's doing."

That includes a team-high eight sacks, a league-high seven forced fumbles, and good production against the run. Umenyiora said that the turnaround from last year - when he was moody and eventually benched - has more to do with actually being on the field to make the plays. Since Mathias Kiwanuka went out with a herniated disc in his neck, Umenyiora's snaps have increased.

But to completely discount his new attitude when looking at his resurgent performance, you'd have to be a head case.

"He's in a good place right now with his mind-set, and it's showing," Nunn said. "Osi has bought in from Day 1 and he's off to a great start."

He's not even bothered by the process it now requires to get him on the field. He rests from Monday through Wednesday during a normal workweek - which includes not practicing on Wednesdays - and is limited on Thursdays and Fridays. In between there are meetings with doctors and trainers. That could be a distraction for a player so used to routine.

"I wouldn't say it's mentally draining because I know what the endgame is," he said. "I know exactly what I have to do and I know I'm going to be on that football field no matter what. I just prepare myself. They're doing a good job of keeping me on a schedule so I am able to play on Sunday. It's been good."

Umenyiora has been good, too, on the field and off. He said his injuries have not gotten any worse during the season. Now, with the rest from a bye week, they can only get better.

"Sometimes things happen, sometimes they don't," he said. "So far this year things have gone pretty well."