New York Giants’ General Manager Jerry Reese expects Osi Umenyiora to be full speed right from the start when the team open training camp — despite a hip injury that will eventually require surgery.
That’s what Giants GM Jerry Reese said today about the hip injury that has bothered Umenyiora since 2006. According to a report, Umenyiora got a second opinion on his hip issue earlier this month, and Reese said his defensive end got the same diagnosis he has received from Giants doctors: Surgery is probably necessary, but playing through it won’t make it worse.
So Umenyiora, after consulting with the Giants, has decided to play on.
“He’s learned how to manage it,” Reese told the Daily News. “We expect him to manage it like he’s always managed it for the last few years. I’m assuming that if he needs to have the surgery and wants to have the surgery that he’ll do it sometime after the season. But our plan is for Osi to be ready to go at training camp.”
Umenyiora was able to participate in the Giants’ mini-camp in June, but he was held out of some of the team’s organized team activity (OTA) sessions in the spring because of the hip. So in early July, he reportedly went to the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo., to be examined by hip specialist Marc Philippon, who counts Alex Rodriguez among his more notable patients.
Reese insisted “This is not a new situation” and that Umenyiora didn’t hear anything in Colorado that he didn’t already know. Reese said he “just wanted to check and make sure that he’s not going to hurt himself any more than he’s already hurt. The doctors have assured him that he can’t hurt himself any more.
“This is something that can be done after the season. So he should be ready to go Sunday.”
Provided the hip does not limit what Umenyiora can do that is good news for the Giants. Of course if you are also a Yankee fan and remember the hip surgery Alex Rodriguez had you know these things can be difficult to play through.