Brett Favre shows his teammates some love by giving them

The Rams, who hold the No. 1 overall selection in the draft, have begun preliminary negotiations with Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Though he stopped short of promising DE Osi Umenyiora his starting job back, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he recently spoke to the former Pro Bowl pick and assured him he is an integral part of the team.

Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora wants to start, or he is willing to walk away from football.

Members of the New York Giants coaching staff believe there is a strong chance some of them could be let go following the conclusion of the season this Sunday.

Osi Umenyiora is frustrated, Tom Coughlin is apologetic and the Giants are out of the playoffs. Not the best of times for the Giants or their fans right now.

The Giants have benched a number of defensive starters Sunday’s game against the Cowboys, including DE Osi Umenyiora and DT Fred Robbins.

A few general observations before we get into the late games.

Impressions and observations after another weekend of football.

One of the questions facing the Giants during training camp — as well as the rest of the season — is how they’ll replace former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Several of the Giants believe they may have even more of an attacking defense this season.

The Giants thought they suffered a big blow to their defense in the preseason when Osi Umenyiora went down with a season-ending injury. But so far their defense has been the best in the NFL.

But now Umenyiora is recovering quickly, and the injured defensive end told Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post that he could have returned at the end of this year.