Young running back LeSean McCoy is never shy about speaking his mind. The extroverted playmaker is one of the more active "tweeters" on the team, with over 50,000 followers on the social networking website. Unfortunately, his frank demeanor got him into trouble over the summer, when the 5-11 ball-carrier found himself in the center of a Twitter throw down.
In mid-June, McCoy re-tweeted an article written by ESPN's Adam Schefter regarding defensive end Osi Umenyiora, and his contract dispute with the Giants, commenting that the nine-year veteran end was "overrated and soft" and that he was only the "third-best defensive-lineman on his own team." The Troy-alum, Umenyiora, then fired back with insults of his own. The spat was evidence that, for many young Eagles, their rivalry with the Giants is possibly the most heated in the entire division, even more so than the Eagles' rivalry with the hated Cowboys.
Despite the recent history of these two clubs, McCoy and the Eagles are trying to focus exclusively on the task at hand. Both teams know that the difference between a 1-2 start versus a 2-1 start can be enormous; barring a stalemate after 75 minutes of play, one team will leave with the former distinction while the other will be sitting above .500.
"This is a big game," said McCoy. "I don't want to get wrapped up in individual battles. We need to win and I know I can't do it all alone. This is a team sport. Our only goal is to win. I don't care about getting into name-calling and boasting about personal achievements. Our games are exciting and are always a lot of fun. Both sides have a lot of good players."
Perhaps the reason that the Pitt-alum has had so much fun in his four career games against the Giants is that he and the Eagles have won in each of those four meetings. McCoy has started each of the four games and has averaged 6.33 yards-per-carry in his career against Big Blue.
"I haven't lost to them, yet, but they've got a lot of talent and this is a new year," said the tailback, with surprisingly modest candor. "I'm confident, though, because we have so many weapons, and I'm only like the third option on offense. So if the Giants focus on me, they've got Vick, Jackson, Maclin, and the rest of the guys to worry about."
LeSean Mccoy is hoping to build on what has been an impressive 2011 season to this point- he leads the NFL with three rushing touchdowns and is second in the NFC in rushing yards with 217, one yard behind leader Adrian Peterson. He claims to have "forgotten" what was even said earlier this summer, but you can be sure that Umenyiora and the Giants remember. What matters though, is which team will remember a win come Monday morning.
