Umenyiora is Mr. Sunshine for Giants

Having Osi Umenyiora stand up and give a speech about putting personal goals aside and playing as a team is a little bit like the Grinch, the Grinch himself, slicing the roast beast. But there he was at last week's Kickoff Luncheon, speaking on behalf of the defense, delivering a parable that he and his teammates will try to live up to this season.

"Individually, the team is like stars, but the team is the sun," he said. "While we might all shine, when the sun comes up, we all disappear . . . That's the mantra this year: Team first, team last, team everything."

Yes, Osi Umenyiora, who on the heels of the 2009 season threatened to retire rather than play as a backup, is putting the team ahead of everything. And he's also saying that he's happy. He still wants to play, probably still wants to start. But he's not letting that preoccupy his time. Instead, he's spent this summer quietly going about his business, competing with Mathias Kiwanuka at defensive end where it looks like Umenyiora will indeed be a second-stringer, and trying to step out from under that dark cloud that seemed to hover over him all offseason.

"I'm happy," Umenyiora said. "I'm just happy to be around everybody. I love the guys, I love this team, and any time I get a chance to do what I love to do I'm happy and having fun."

He might not be starting, but in Perry Fewell's new defensive scheme, he'll get to play. Throughout the preseason Fewell has flashed some unorthodox alignments that include four pass-rushing defensive ends across the front and even ends like Umenyiora and Kiwanuka falling back as two-point-stance linebackers.

Coughlin said he considers both Umenyiora and Kiwanuka starters.

"They're both playing well," he said. "They're both doing everything we ask them to do and they're making good progress so those things (starting) will take care of themselves. But they're two of our better football players, I'll tell you that right now. They're outstanding."

Kiwanuka said the competition, as far as he's concerned, ended the day training camp began.

"The offseason is all about the individual," he said. "You spend the time in the offseason trying to ready yourself individually and you focus on what you have to focus on as an individual. But once the season starts, once camp comes, you've got to put all that aside and it's whatever is better for the team. For us, we know that if we win a championship then everybody is going to be happy."

What would make the Giants happy, of course, would be if Umenyiora returned to his Pro Bowl form. He hasn't been there since he blew out his knee two years ago and missed all of the 2008 season. But he's shown that somewhere in him that kind of playmaker still lurks.

Like when he made two stops in the backfield against the Steelers in the second preseason game. No, they weren't sacks. They were plays against the run, which is one of the reasons Umenyiora was benched late last year.

"You know Osi, he's very competitive," Justin Tuck told the media. "When you all start talking about how he can't do something he loves to prove the fact that he can . . . All of us like to play with some kind of chip on our shoulder, some kind of 'He said I couldn't do this so I'm going to prove him wrong.' I'm hoping that he'll return back to the form of Osi. We've known him to be a Pro Bowl player and I know he still has that talent."

If Umenyiora can start playing like he did before his knee injury, before his benching, before his offseason temper-tantrums, the Giants' defensive line could be one of the most feared in the NFL. Oh, and there's one other 'if.' Umenyiora can play like a star, but he has to disappear when the sun comes out.

"Everybody has to work well together," Umenyiora said, "and I think we have the opportunity to do that.''