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Wow. Shocking to me, as a Giants fan. A simple play in a preseason game, and your best defensive player goes down. Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora's foot seemed to stick to the turf as he tried to beat Jets tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson to the outside. He will not be able to help the team defend its title. Umenyiora was carted off the field with what the team described as a locked knee. X-rays taken during the game revealed no ligament damage. But later, an MRI on Sunday showed that Umenyiora tore the lateral meniscus in his left knee in a preseason game against the Jets on Saturday night. Osi will have season ending surgery on Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. The recovery period is about four months.

...I'm just speechless and pissed off at the moment. Losing Strahan to retirement was one thing. But to lose your next best defensive end, on the opposite side, is even more dethroning. Tuck and Kiwanuka along with Wynn will have to step up in their places, and although they provide depth, the Giants are a much better team with Umenyiora. With the loss of Strahan, Umenyiora, and Mitchell, that's 25.5 sacks less from last season.

...Wow, the preseason really pissed me off. So many star players getting injured, for a game that only matters to rookies and free agents fighting for last roster spots. Osi Umenyiora, Jason Taylor, Derek Anderson, Chad Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Carson Palmer, Kevin Curtis, Kyle Kosier, Brian Dawkins, the list goes on...

Really sorry about the loss, dude-lap. Now how many starters aren't returning from last year, 5? And how many sacks, 26?

Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan would consider returning to the team in the wake of Osi Umenyiora's season-ending knee injury, the New York Daily News has reported, citing an unnamed source. According to the paper, Strahan, 36, who retired in the offseason after helping lead the Giants to a Super Bowl championship, would come back with the Giants if offered an $8 million contract for this season, according to a source close to the seven-time Pro Bowler.

Michael Strahan is staying retired, although his agent said that the seven-time Pro Bowler seriously considered returning to the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

"He was very close to returning, but the great part about Michael is that he takes his time to think about things and he is very thorough," Tony Agnone said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday night. "You can get excited about coming back and running through the tunnel one more time." Agnone said that Strahan struggled deciding whether he could give 100 percent mentally. "In the end, he felt he could not get back to where he was," Agnone said.

"This has been one of the toughest nights of my life," Strahan told FoxSports.com. "But after long deliberation and throwing around a million scenarios in my head for the past day, I think it's just best if I stay retired."

Giants general manager Jerry Reese has asked the 36-year-old Strahan to reconsider his retirement on Monday, just 48 hours after the Super Bowl champions lost Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora for the season to a knee injury.

Strahan needed just about a day to turn down an offer to return for a 16th season with what could have been an $8 million contract.

"I really love my life now," Strahan said. "It's great having nobody put a finger on me. You really put yourself through an awful lot in this league, more than people realize.

Agnone said money was never an issue. "We know the parameters of the contract and the Giants would have been generous," Agnone said.

Reese did not seem surprised by the decision. "We knew it was a long shot, but we owed it to ourselves to exhaust the possibility," Reese said late Tuesday evening. "We appreciate Michael even considering ending his retirement. He has a new career in front of him and we wish him nothing but the best. As we all said when he announced his retirement, Michael was and is a great Giant."

Strahan has signed a $2 million deal to work for Fox Sports on its NFL pregame show on Sundays. The executives from FOX said that they would have supported Strahan if he wanted to make a return.

The Giants moved Mathias Kiwanuka from linebacker to defensive end on Monday to take over for Umenyiora, who had successful knee surgery on Tuesday morning and was placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Yeah, that was a pretty cheap hit on the last play of the game. Kiwanuka said that he was alright. I remember celebrating a home win, then looking at the field, and saying to myself, oh s**t, he's down. But he's fine, and I'm pretty happy at where we are at DE, even with the two big losses. Tuck, Kiwanuka, McDougle, Tollefson, and Wynn are very solid.