The Giants' nearly extinct pass rush of the last two weeks will be hard-pressed to return to its first-half-of-the-season form against the 11-0 Packers without one of its key elements. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who sprained his ankle early in Monday night's 49-24 loss to the Saints, had an MRI last night and, according to a source who spoke before that examination, it "does not look good" for him to play Sunday.
"He's probably out this week, maybe more," the source said, calling the injury a "bad sprain."
The Giants began the season without Umenyiora. He missed the first three games after preseason knee surgery and spending most of training camp in a standoff with the front office. He eventually returned and had been playing well.
Jason Pierre-Paul would start in place of Umenyiora for however long he is out. The second-year player leads the team with 10.5 sacks and had a strong performance against the Saints. Tom Coughlin called Pierre-Paul's effort in Monday night's game "outstanding."
Umenyiora has seven sacks, second on the team, but only one in the last four games. That coincides with a team dry spell. The Giants (6-5) had 30 sacks through the first nine games but only one in the last two, including their first game of the season without one against the Saints. They had only seven quarterback hits in those last two games, both losses.
Coughlin said teams have increased their protections to keep the Giants' four-man pass rush from reaching its destination.
"We need to look at that and perhaps up the percentage somewhat in terms of our pressures," he said. "But it would be great to get our guys going again and win those one-on-one matchups when they do occur . . . We didn't get a lot of things done, we didn't get to the quarterback as much as we wanted to, but it wasn't for a lack of effort."
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