EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Giants had their first walkthrough of training camp Saturday morning and as expected Osi Umenyiora was not at Timex Performance Center.
Umenyiora, a Pro Bowl defensive end who is seeking a trade or a new contract that he claims General Manager Jerry Reese promised him, held out for the second consecutive day. He will be fined $30,000 for each day he holds out, according the new collective bargaining agreement rules.
His fellow defensive end Justin Tuck said he called Umenyiora earlier in the morning and had “a great conversation.”
“My biggest concern is that he’s going to do something that’s going to hurt Osi,” Tuck said, referring to Umenyiora saying something he may regret in the future. “We all know he can play this game and play it well. I just want him to have the opportunity to play as long as he wants to do it.
“I’m not one of those guys that’s going to get in his ear and tell him, you need to be here, you need to do that. That’s not my position. I’m going to give him my stance on it and he can take it for what it’s worth. He knows where I stand; he knows that I’ll always be here supporting him, and that’s basically what our conversation was about.”
Earlier in the summer, Umenyiora not only accused Reese of lying, he did so in a sworn affidavit that was filed in the players’ antitrust lawsuit against the league.
Umenyiora said that in an April 2008 meeting Reese promised he would renegotiate Umenyiora’s contract in two seasons if he continued playing at a high level.
Over the next two seasons, Umenyiora, now 29, did not miss a game and had 18 1/2 sacks, including 11 1/2 in 2010, the third-highest total in his career.
When asked if the circumstances meant the situation was beyond repair, Tuck was hopeful.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a quicker end to this than people think, but again that’s just me being optimistic,” he said.
“We’ve all seen worse,” Tuck said. “Not to bring up old but a couple years ago Michael Strahan was in a similar situation.”
He added: “People got to understand it is a business. We just got out of a tremendous business deal just being able to come out here and play this game again.”
Top Pick Still Unsigned Cornerback Prince Amukamara, the Giants’ first round pick in this year’s draft, remains the only unsigned drafted rookie. General Manager Jerry Reese has said he does not expect negotiations to drag on through training camp.
Amukamara’s future teammates are looking forward to him joining the team soon.
“I have seen some of Prince’s film and he is a great player and I’m pretty sure he is a great person,” defensive back Antrel Rolle said. “You want to have everyone here but at the same time it is a professional business. He has to make sure that he takes care of himself on his end also.”
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