Umenyiora Hurts Knee in 10-7 Loss to the Jets: The Giants played an uninspiring game game in a 10-7 to the New York Jets earlier tonight at the Meadowlands. However, the big story of the game was the knee injury suffered by DE Osi Umenyiora.
Umenyiora twisted his left knee early in the second quarter. Umenyiora needed help getting to the sidelines and did not put any weight on his left leg. He was then carted off the field after being examined by the Giants’ team physician.
The full extent of the injury will not be known until an MRI is taken. X-rays at the stadium were negative. The Star-Ledger is reporting that the medical staff does not believe that Umenyiora suffered an ACL tear. The Giants are saying that Umenyiora’s knee locked up on him. Umenyiora did have problems with the meniscus cartilage in his left knee last year.
“I am thinking it is going to be okay,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin of Umenyiora’s injury. “We won’t know until tomorrow what exactly they will have to do if they have to do anything. We are just going to have to wait and see…The doctors told me there was no ligament damage.”
Also injured in the game was LB Danny Clark, who suffered a groin injury. No word yet on the severity of that injury either. S Craig Dahl (knee) and OG/OT Na’Shan Goddard (concussion) were also hurt.
As for the game itself, it wasn’t pretty for either team. The score was 0-0 at halftime though the Jets did have a 49-yard touchdown pass taken off the scoreboard due to an illegal motion penalty.
The Giants’ starting offensive had the ball five times in the first half. The drives were 7 plays for 35 yards, 3 plays for -2 yards, 4 plays for 28 yards, 4 plays for 23 yards, and 13 plays for 63 yards. On the last drive, PK Josh Huston missed a 42-yard field goal after QB Eli Manning was sacked for a 16-yard loss. Manning was sacked three times in the first half. He did not play in the second half and finished the game 10-of-17 for 113 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions.
The Jets had the ball four times in the first half, but all four drives ended with punts.
“I didn’t think offensively we played very well,” said Coughlin. “We were down there in the tight green zone and didn’t come away with any points at all. Anytime you do that you are pretty much going to regret that toward the end of the game. Our defense, when you come off the first half and it is nothing to nothing, somebody is doing something decent. We didn’t protect the quarterback very well tonight on the whole and we have to look at that. Obviously that is a huge problem for us. I wasn’t very pleased offensively.”
The Jets received the ball to start the third quarter and put together a 17-play marathon of a drive that took over nine minutes off the clock. But the Jets were forced to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
After the Giants were forced to punt, the Giants got the ball right back when DE Renaldo Wynn picked off a pass, setting up the Giants at the Jets’ 30-yard line. Six plays later, HB Ahmad Bradshaw scored from three yards out as the Giants took a 7-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Both teams then exchanged punts. A mediocre punt by P Jeff Feagles gave the Jets the ball at their own 49-yard line. The Jets then scored in two plays with pass plays of 27 and 24 yards. Jets 10 – Giants 7.
The Giants got the ball twice more in the game – once with just over 6 minutes to play and the last time with 1:45 left to go. But the closest the Giants got was the Jets’ 32-yard line on the former drive and the latter drive ended with an interception by QB Andre’ Woodson.