EAST RUTHERFORD, N. http... .J. -- Coming off one of their best defensive efforts, the New York Giants seemingly are getting another piece back for their NFC East showdown with the Dallas Cowboys. Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora practised on a limited basis Wednesday after being sidelined for the month with a high ankle sprain and continuing problems with his knee. Expect him on the field Sunday night when the Giants (8-7) face the Cowboys (8-7) for the division title and a first-round home game against either Atlanta or Detroit. "Hey, this is it," backup defensive end Dave Tollefson said. "Win, youre in. Lose, you go home. "So you might as well pull all the stops and get everybody rolling." Umenyiora hurt the ankle -- the team has not said which one -- in a loss in New Orleans on Nov. 28. He has missed the last four games and many wondered whether he would be back on the field this season. However, the nine-year veteran looked nimble running with the defensive linemen early in practice. "Hes tested everything, lots of times," coach Tom Coughlin said. "Thats what hes been doing. Hes been working his tail off. "He just hasnt been able to get right." Umenyiora did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. He usually talks to reporters on Fridays. The Giants have not been hurt by Umenyioras absence because second-year pro and recent Pro Bowl selection Jason Pierre-Paul has been outstanding starting for him at right end, twice winning NFC defensive player of the week honours. However, Umenyioras addition also comes at a time when fellow two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Justin Tuck is playing his best football after a season marked by neck, groin and toe injuries. With Umenyiora, Pierre-Paul, Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka, the Giants will finally have all the part of the third-down pass quartet they envisioned using all season. And some depth. Pierre-Paul was forced to play more than 100 plays in the Giants 29-14 win over the rival Jets at MetLife Stadium. "That rest will help me a lot and it will get me going," said Pierre-Paul, who was selected the NFC defensive player of the week Wednesday for the second time in three weeks. "I was playing like 80 snaps a game and that is a lot. "You dont really think about it, you just have to go." Pierre-Paul also won the honour in the Giants 37-34 win over Dallas on Dec. 11. He had eight tackles, two sacks, one of which resulted in a safety, a forced fumble that led to a field goal and blocked Dan Baileys tying field goal attempt on the final play of the game. If the Giants do have everybody back that could make things a little tougher for Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who intends to play this weekend despite suffering a bruised right hand in 20-7 loss to Philadelphia this past weekend. "I think that Osi is a good player, so anytime they get another pass rusher it presents more of a challenge," Romo said in a conference call with New York media. "We have to prepare for that. I think that group up front is an outstanding group and they have three or four guys that you really have to account for. "It is going to be a great challenge for our guys up front and for me to see different things and you just have to know that going into the week. We will be prepared for it." The Giants defence, which ranks 28th in the league, played an outstanding game against the Jets, particularly after yielding a touchdown on the opening drive. It forced three turnovers and held the Jets to 4-of-21 on third-down conversions. The only Jets touchdown in the second half came on an 11-yard drive after an Eli Manning pass was intercepted. Safety Antrel Rolle said the Giants are willing to pay the price to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Nicked players are practising and the tempo has picked up. Having Umenyiora back on the field is just another example of that. "All on deck. Were all fighting," Rolle said. "Were all trying to get better. It means everything to have Osi out there. I know hes probably not 100 per cent, but hes fighting. "Hes fighting. Hes fighting for himself. Hes fighting for this team. Hes fighting for what we have at stake." Tackle Chris Canty said having Umenyiora and his seven sacks back just gives the defence another talented player. "It would be pretty impeccable timing, to get everyone healthy and running," Tollefson said. NOTES: WR Hakeem Nicks did not practise because of a recurring hamstring injury. He said he would play Sunday. ...WR Mario Manningham, who missed the Jets game with a nagging season-long knee injury, worked on a limited basis. ...TE Jake Ballard, who sprained a knee against Washington on Dec. 18 and did not play last week, did some running and light cutting away from the team. He did practise. ....Coughlin, who injured his left leg Saturday when slammed into by running back D.J. Ware, got a message from Saints coach Sean Payton, who broke his left leg when tight end Jimmy Graham slammed into him Oct. 16 in a game at Tampa, Fla. "You look like youre a better athlete than me, you didnt go down," Coughlin said Payton told him. [url=http://www.worldsocceronlineshop.com/Fc-Bayern-Munich-Arjen-Robben-Jersey.h... Robben Bayern Munich Jersey . The Heat say the phrase Baiamonte used represented a momentary lapse of judgment. Stoudemire injured his left hand after Game 2 of the series when he struck a metal-and-glass case that holds a fire extinguisher near the visitors locker room at AmericanAirlines Arena. Paramedics and doctors were summoned to stitch the wound, which stretched across much of the bottom of his hand and kept him out of Game 3. ... Jagr Jersey . One teams chase of that crown will take a hit tonight when the Coyotes visit the Sharks with an eye on returning to first place. htt... . - A trainer flooding the field with five horses. [url=http://www.mlbyankeesteamshop.com/black-10-phil-rizzuto-womens-jersey/]http... Jersey/ . According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Crosby was given medical clearance to practice on Thursday and is expected to join his teammates on the ice on Friday. W... Chen Jersey .J. -- Ed Reed is unsure what his football future holds.As Team Canada readies itself for the 2013 IIHF World Championship in Helsinki and Stockholm, TSN.ca Producer Shane McNeil offers up three reasons why hockey fans should pay close attention to this years tournament. Coverage of the Worlds begins Saturday on TSN and continues all the way to the Gold Medal game on May 19. There was a time not so long ago that international hockey was dominated by a small, elite group of nations. At the start of every major international tournament, it was a pretty decent bet that either Canada or Russia would be taking gold. By 1992, the two nations had combined to win 14 of 17 Olympic gold medals (excluding two by the Americans and one by Great Britain in 1936). Canada or the USSR had combined to at least appear in every World Championship gold medal game since open competition began in 1976 and had won every Canada Cup. Further to pro dominance, one of the two nations had won all but two World Junior Hockey Championship gold, save Swedens 1981 victory and the double disqualification debacle in Piestany.Other nations were showing up and, on occasion, winning. But by and large they were going to challenge the two superpowers. In the mid-1990s, however, things began to change. With European players flooding the NHL at previously unprecedented levels, the competition began to shift between 1994 and 2000 and rest of the world caught up. Sweden would ride the talents of Peter Forsberg to Olympic gold in 1994. The United States would out-muscle Canada to take the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and Dominik Hasek would steal Olympic gold for the Czech Republic in 1998. Suddenly, over a span of five years, the order of global hockey power shifted and Canada and Russia found themselves struggling to keep up with the nations they had ritually beaten in the past. The last decade at the World Hockey Championships has been a study in balance. No team has won more than two consecutive gold medals since the Czech Republic three-peated in 2001. Five of the traditional "Big Six" hockey nations have won at least one gold medal, with the United States being the lone nation to have failed to do so. To open the matter up further, Slovakia won its first ever international gold by winning the 2002 World Championship. Over the last decade, the field has wideneed in terms of top-flight international hockey and the Worlds can claim a lot of the credit for that success. Este... Paredes Chile Jersey. In 1992, the tournament expanded from an eight-team competition to two groups of six. The wider competition field allowed nations such as Norway, France, Poland and Italy to join one of the Worlds most prestigious tournaments. While those nations are still struggling to compete, there has been some success from the nations that were not traditionally seen as international threats over the past 10 years. Germany, Switzerland and Belarus have all boasted top-four finishes at major international tournaments since 2002, whether at the Worlds, the World Juniors or the Olympics. If the field werent opened up to give these teams a chance to test themselves against and learn from the elite nations, theres no way these teams could have hoped to compete regularly with the best. The Worlds - which expanded from a 12- to a 16-team tournament in 1998 - have provided that second wave of nations a chance to try their hand at beating a team of professionals from the worlds top hockey nations on an annual basis. This has benefitted not only the nations mentioned above, but has also helped these countries develop NHL-calibre talent for the first time. Kazakhstan, Denmark and Ukraine have all begun to develop NHL talent over the past 10 years and beyond that, these nations are now challenging one another in terms of qualifying for the top tournaments. Belarus - which has participated in three of the past four Olympic tournaments - was unable to qualify for Sochi. Whats more surprising is that Germany was also unable to qualify, ending a streak of 16-straight Olympic appearances for the Germans. Instead, it is Slovenia and Austria that have earned their chance to play the big boys. Their qualification is all the more impressive when one considers that NHL stars Thomas Vanek and Anze Kopitar were unavailable to their respective nations during qualification. The field is starting to level out and it may be sooner rather than later that some of these fresh, unproven nations begin to challenge for medals of their own. When that happens, it will almost certainly be at the World Championship, where these teams are starting to become more than just a stepping stone. ' ' '