ALBANY, N.Y. - You folks know where I stand on this Giants-Jets chatter that never really seems to go anywhere each preseason because, well, it's the preseason.
Today, the questions began here at UAlbany. No one seemed to be having much of it, particularly Osi Umenyiora.
"The Jets are a good football team, but us playing them, unless it’s like a Super Bowl game, it’s really not that big of a deal," Umenyiora said. "I think definitely the NFC East is our biggest rival. You know, the Jets, anytime we play them, it’s good because we’re in the same city and same town. A lot of those guys we know and I respect them a lot, but as far as rivalry goes, it’s definitely teams in the NFC East."
After repeated questions about the Jets, Justin Tuck had heard enough.
"That’s where we’re going with this session? Last time I checked I played for the Giants and I’ve only heard one question about the Giants," Tuck said. "I really don’t want to talk about the Jets."
Umenyiora was one of a few players to state the rivals the Giants truly worry about are the ones they face every year.
"The ones that are going to impact your season, I think that’s what we see as the biggest rivals," Mathias Kiwanuka said. "There’s Dallas, Philly, Washington and anybody in the NFC. But there is a little bit added to it because we’re in the same city and visit the same places so you want to be able to be the best in your own town."
The one intriguing aspect of this game, however, is the Tim Tebow factor. And by that, I don't mean what he looks like with his shirt off or any of the other nonsense surrounding that situation. What I mean is whether the Jets will run the Wildcat after honoring Marvin Lewis' alleged request to not run it last weekend.
"Most teams don’t present you that type of wrinkle in the offense like they’re going to," Umenyiora said. "It gives you definitely something to work on you wouldn’t usually have to. But still we definitely have to work on what we need to work on as a defense.
"If that’s what’s presented to us as far as the Wildcat, I’m sure we’re going to see that at some other point during this year so it’s good to work on it now."
* * * *
It happens way too often when you write about a guy and then the next day you get another voice that could've helped the story tremendously. That was the case today when Umenyiora met with reporters and spoke about Adrian Tracy, who said he compares himself to Umenyiora.
"That’s the young Osi. That’s what we call him. We call him ‘Young Os’," Umenyiora said. "He’s doing a phenomenal job and I love the way he plays and prepares. He’s always willing to learn, he’s always willing to train afterward, working on different things and you hear him asking questions. He’s willing to get better. It’s just very good to see a young guy like that performing the way he’s performing."
So if Dave Tollefson was dubbed "WOsi" ("White Osi) by the players, that must make Tracy "YOsi," right?
"We had WOsi with Dave Tollefson and now we have YOsi," Umenyiora confirmed with a laugh.
And the original?
"I’m still here, you know what I mean?" Umenyiora said. "It’s kind of crazy we have all these different YOsis and WOsis going around when Osi’s still here. I just take that as a compliment."
* * * *
I asked Umenyiora about his recent change of agents from Tony Agnone to Tom Condon. He had no comment on the matter.
* * * *
Two weeks after Tom Coughlin said there were no T-shirts with the Giants' catchy slogan on the back ... the team has unveiled T-shirts with a catchy slogan on the back.
"Build the bridge" is the theme for this year. That means building a bridge between last year and this year.
* * * *
Tuck was asked about 49ers safety Donte Whitner's comments the Niners lost the NFC Championship, you know, as opposed to the Giants' winning it.
"Man, there are some sore losers in the world, huh?" he said.
I'll have more on this later.
* * * *
OT James Brewer said his back issue on Sunday was a muscle cramp, not an aggravation of a nagging issue. He says he'll practice today.
OL Jim Cordle (knee) will not practice, though he's hoping he'll be ready for the Jets game.
* * * *
Albany mayor Gerald Jennings briefly spoke to reporters this morning and said he'd love to have the Giants back for more camps in the future and is doing all he can to ensure their visit here is a smooth one.
Giants president and CEO John Mara said only that it's nice to hear such things but that a decision won't be made until the fall.