Osi Umenyiora Tears MCL, Season Over

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N.Y. Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora will miss the 2008 season with a torn MCL. He injured his left knee in the second quarter of the Giants 10-7 preseason loss to the N.Y. Jets last night. So not only are the defending Super Bowl champs missing one of their Pro Bowl defensive ends (Michael Strahan to retirement), they’re now missing both of them with this devastating injury.

It was a sickening sight to see Osi’s left knee buckle on a play where he was simply rushing the quarterback. It looked like his foot caught in the turf and the next thing you know, he’s on the ground in a heap — season over. I know it’s part of the game and you see it every preseason, but it’s a really difficult injury to deal with because of the long recovery time. Osi is scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday and head coach Tom Coughlin said on a conference call yesterday that the recovery period could be four months. I think that’s being extremely optimistic, but it’s what the doctors are telling him and they certainly know more than I do. I’ll still say if he’s 100% for the start of the 2009 season, the Giants will be fortunate.

Source: Giants.com