Umenyiora plays for teammates, not Giants

Osi Umenyiora does not want to play for the Giants.

At least not the Giants in terms of the front office, the uniform, the logo, and the rest of the elements that represent the franchise. The unhappy defensive end, still sidelined five weeks after an arthroscopic knee procedure, said he is looking forward to getting back on the field and helping the team win. But when he returns, it will be to play for the team, not the company.

"You just have to find exactly what it is that you're playing for, a different motivation," he said of putting aside his feelings of being slighted, lied to and underpaid. "If I was to sit over here and say, 'OK, I'm going to go out and play for the Giants organization,' then I might not go out there and give it my all."

He compared his situation -- albeit grudgingly -- to a soldier who is asked whom he is fighting for. "I hate to compare football to war," he said, "but they wouldn't tell you they're fighting for the United States government, they'll tell you they're fighting for the guys next to them, the guys who they bleed and sweat with. That's exactly what I would say I'm playing for now. I love these guys."

Umenyiora said he is "very close" to a return and would not rule himself out of Sunday's game against the Eagles, but it's a good bet Tom Coughlin will today when the team issues its final injury report. He has not practiced since his surgery and had only three workouts before that as he sat out in a power struggle with the front office over his contract. Umenyiora, who has two years left on his deal, said in an affidavit as part of the players' antitrust lawsuit against the league that general manager Jerry Reese promised him he would either get a new contract or be traded to a team that would give him one. He's still under the same contract.

"At some point you just have to go for it and if it works it works and if it doesn't it doesn't," he said of his strategies to force the Giants' hand. "Apparently it didn't work and we're right back to square one."

He laughed while he said those words, but he's clearly still upset about his situation.

"It's not going to go anywhere," Umenyiora said of his frustration. "It's ridiculous the way things are looked at [in NFL contracts]. I can't say I don't understand it because I kind of do understand it. At the end of the day it's not fair, but it's not a fair world."

Umenyiora, who Thursday spoke to the media for the first time since the lockout was lifted, denied that his decision to have surgery in mid-August was contract-related and said that he is not dragging out his rehab because of his contract either.

Clearly, though, Umenyiora wants to protect himself as best he can. He does not want to play before he is "close to 100 percent" so as not to risk further injury to his knee. He'll turn 30 in November and hopes that he can get one more big contract before his career ends. He was asked if he thinks he has a long-term future with the Giants. "I'd like it to be here, but I'm not a dummy," he said. "We'll see what happens."

The Giants did offer Umenyiora incentives tacked on to his current contract, but he refused them.

"I made that mistake before," he said. "I signed something that at the time I thought was good but in retrospect it wasn't right for me. I just know I can't make that same mistake again. I can't. Because if I do sign that then it seems like something has been done when in actuality nothing has been done. I'll just take my chances and keep playing and see what happens."