We Still Play The Giants Twice A Year, Right?

Pretty sure you're going to get that opportunity, Osi:

Umenyiora thinks the bitterness over how last season ended might be spurring the players to work hard and participate during OTAs.

"They should. I do -- and I wasn't on the football field," he said. "I was on the field, but I wasn't playing and I saw the way it ended. It was a team we should have beat and it was a team that, if the opportunity arises again, we will beat."

Meanwhile, two absolutely fascinating experiments going on these days:

Manning also likes what he sees off the field in the team's new practice facility.

"You have the guys in the locker room, just hanging out and eating lunch together, those types of things," Manning said. "It makes the team closer, makes everybody comfortable around each other, everybody's the same, no one's getting special treatment, special attention. We have a great group of guys here. They come in, they work. No one has an ego about anything and we're here to practice hard and have some fun also."

(Wow. I'd say you could read between the lines on that one, but I think what Manning was saying was on the lines there. No special treatment? No ego? Hmm, to whom could he have been alluding there?)

Sounds an awful lot like the noises coming out of Dallas. 

Eagles fans might have their own opinions as to what chemistry over talent gets you, come January.

Sal Pal adds some other details on the Beast blog:

Instead, playing in the No. 1 spot was Steve Smith, the third-year pro out of USC who is moving from the slot position he occupied in 2008. On the other side was Domenik Hixon, the speedy kick returner who is being asked to assume a more dominant role in an offense that sputtered down the stretch last season... 

In the slot is the underachieving Sinorice Moss, who came out of Miami four years ago with the promise of his brother, Santana, but had just 12 catches and two touchdowns last season...

There is particular focus and pressure on Smith, who is moving from the slot to the No. 1 spot.

"I want to play faster, be more productive," said Smith, who averaged just 10.1 yards a catch and had only one touchdown reception last year. "I'm just trying to develop something with Eli."

If Smith were an Eagle, we'd be having an awful lot of arguments about how effective he was likely to be on the outside.  Some folks would point to his 4.37 and 4.44 times at the 2007 Combine as evidence that he was plenty fast to succeed outside.  Others would note that those times were way better than anything he posted beforehand, and maybe he just had a really good day. 

I guess I'm going to be surprised if Smith and Hixon are keeping Hakeem Nicks on the sidelines all season.  And Smith is too good in the slot for him to be outside all the time.  I bet they move him inside on third downs.