National Football League

Umenyiora, Robbins practice with Giants' 2nd unit

Published Dec. 4, 2009 10:33 p.m. ET

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The struggling New York Giants continued to tinker with their defensive line on Friday, demoting longtime starting end Osi Umenyiora and starting tackle Fred Robbins to the second unit during practice.

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Mathias Kiwanuka replaced Umenyiora and Chris Canty took Robbins' place on the first unit.

New York has lost five of its last six games and is hoping to salvage its season going into a key NFC East matchup at home against Dallas.

If the changes remain in place Sunday, it would mark the first time since 2004 that former Pro Bowler Umenyiora did not start when healthy and the first time since 2007 that Robbins was a reserve.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin did not want to address any personnel changes.

"We will play everybody," Coughlin said. "We will get everybody involved. We are trying to do the best we can in maneuvering our personnel according to our team. We preach team defense, so we are going to try to get other guys involved as much as we can and see if we can't solve some issues."

Neither Umenyiora nor Robbins was available to the media after practice Friday, but other members of the defensive line spoke of the changes.

"The coaches are the ones who are paid to make decisions," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "We just have to go out and play. They're the ones who put us into position and if they think someone else is a better fit, then that's their opinion. ... They're looking to save our season and they're going to do whatever they think is going to make this right."