I blame Coughlin for this ish!

That picture you see above is of Osi Umenyiora being carted off the field after injuring his knee in the Giant’s preseason game against the Jets. He’s out for the season with a torn knee ligament.

As a Giants fan, I’m beyond pissed at head coach Tom Coughlin. It’s his fault that the best defensive player on the team and arguably one of the top-10 defenders in the entire league is out for the season.

Some want to blame the NFL for his injury, as well as others such as Jones-Drew in Jacksonville, Jason Taylor in Washington, Steve Smith in Carolina and many others. The league is not immune to blame on this. Between OTA practice sessions in the offseason, four or even five preseason games and an entire 16-game regular season, not to mention playoff games for some, too much football is being played on bodies that can only take so much abuse.

Here’s how the NFL season used to be back in the olden days. Teams would have voluntary OTA sessions in the offseason for players to participate in if needed. Then the guys would take a summer off. They would come back in early August to get in shape for the season and play up to six preseason games. The regular season would take place, yada yada yada you get the idea.

Now, times are different. First, these players train all season and come to camp in shape, most of the time. Those voluntary OTA’s have turned into one of those deals where you don’t have to come but we will make life unhappy for you if you pass. Players are then forced to attend. Minicamps have now sprung up before training camp even starts. Finally, training camp takes place and the teams have to play FOUR preseason games.

All of this preparation isn’t necessary.

Why do I not completely blame the league for injuries such as Osi’s? As I always say, sports are fun, enjoyable, inspirational, a release of emotions for us, but most importantly, it’s a business.

The league, especially the owners, know that they can charge full price for two home preseason games and make a profit. We criticize owners for a lot of things and sometimes it’s deserved. However, if you’re an owner of a business whose goal is to make a profit, how can you turn down a revenue stream.

Fans can turn their back on this and not go to the games, but people still go. And for those of you who will then tell me that the stands are half empty during the games, this is true. However, those empty seats are pre-paid, so the owners are still making their money.

I don’t watch preseason games, accept maybe if the first-team is on TV during the first quarter. After that, I have no interest.

Some of you want to eliminate preseason games all together. I can understand this view but it wouldn’t be a good thing.

Here are the only three acceptable situations that a veteran like Osi should be out there playing at all besides maybe one or two series, at the most (btw, quarterbacks are exempt from this because they have to get their timing down):

1) If you’re on a new team. If you’re Brett Favre or Jason Taylor, you do need to play some to learn the scheme. You don’t have to play the whole game, but you do have to play more than a normal veteran.
2) Rookies. They have to get adjusted to the NFL by playing games.
3) Bench players and final roster spots. You can practice all day, but the coaches need to see the players in game situations to evaluate them and get ready for the season.

In the end, I blame Tom Coughlin for this particular situation. Osi is a vet. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been on the team for several years now and you know he’s a pro-bowl level player. So what if he gets 20 sacks against Favre, does that prove anything?

Wouldn’t it be more useful to see the backup defensive ends get some snaps in to improve their game and gain experience then to see Osi do what he always does?

And if the league gets mad at you for not playing a star player in a preseason contest, you can tell the NFL to go somewhere, if you catch my drift.

I won’t blame the player in this situation at all. He’s out there playing hard. You can’t tell a player, especially a football player and in particular a defensive end to take it easy and coast on the field. Those are when most of the injuries take place, when a player isn’t focused on the field.

Coughlin should have not even had Osi out there and now the slim chances of the Giants repeating as Super Bowl champions went from nil to none. Thanks Tom, you were doing so well this past year until this moment. You brought a championship to the NYC, and for that, I will forever be grateful. But for now, I’m not happy with you and I’m damn near pissed thinking about this right now!

No happy music at the end of this post, I’m legit mad right now and will need to take a moment to reflect, focus and get back to work.

I feel worse for Osi then anyone else. Damn Coughlin!