Giants, Umenyiora return to feuding

While many players were giddy about getting back to work following months of being locked out -- wide receiver Domenik Hixon compared Tuesday's return to the team's training facility to the first day of school -- not everyone is as excited about coming back to the Giants.

There are strong indications that defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who has long been trying to wiggle out of his contract, could be a training camp holdout. He has two years left on his contract but said in an affidavit filed as part of the antitrust lawsuit against the NFL this spring that general manager Jerry Reese told him in 2008 that if he played at a high level, in two years he would either be paid at a higher level or traded to a team that would pay him.

Giants president and CEO John Mara told Newsday last week that he wanted Reese and Umenyiora to meet face-to-face to work out their differences and Tuesday Mara told reporters at Timex Performance Center that he hoped Umenyiora would show up. He did not, although he has until Friday to report for training camp.

Asked if there are any meetings scheduled between the two sides, Umenyiora's agent, Tony Agnone, said, "No comment."

Boss testing free agency

Free-agent tight end Kevin Boss hopes he winds up back with the Giants, but he told Newsday that he's willing to test the market.

"I feel like I've worked hard and I've earned my stripes to become an unrestricted free agent," he said. "I feel like I owe it to myself and my family to see what else is out there."

Ultimately, though, Boss wants the Giants to come through.

"I don't know what their plan is, but I'm hoping they make it easy for me and make me an offer that's kind of a no-brainer," he said.

'That one game'

Cornerback Terrell Thomas noted that the way the 2010 season ended -- with a 10-6 record but no playoff invitation -- is still eating at some of the players. Especially bothersome, he said, is the Meltdown at the Meadowlands against the Eagles. "Everybody knows we should have been in the playoffs, but that game we gave away against Philly, that's how we lost our season, that one game," he said. "It wasn't any other game. You prepare for that moment and we gave it away . . . Hopefully it'll be a motivational factor this year."

Giant steps

The Giants tried to restructure offensive lineman Shawn Andrews' contract, but Andrews said on Twitter that the two sides could not reach an agreement. He is likely to be released Thursday along with fellow linemen Rich Seubert and Shaun O'Hara . . . Free-agent offensive lineman Kevin Boothe agreed to a two-year contract with the Giants . . . Hixon, who missed all of 2010 with a knee injury, said he is healthy and ready for the start of camp on Friday.