NFL

Angry Osi wants end to low blocks on defenders

Recent talk that the NFL might consider outlawing low blocks got a strong endorsement yesterday from Osi Umenyiora.

The Giants’ veteran defensive end said such a ban — which has gained momentum since star Texans linebacker Brian Cushing’s season was ended on a low block by Jets guard Matt Slauson in Week 5 — is long overdue.

“I don’t understand, for the life of me, why that block is still allowed right now,” Umenyiora said. “I understand you want to slow some people down, but people are tearing their ACLs, getting hurt and getting maimed out there. And it’s not like our legs are any less valuable than a quarterback or an offensive player, so why not protect us, also?”

Umenyiora said defensive players feel the NFL and its competition committee, which oversees all rules changes, have a built-in bias against defensive players.

“You can’t even touch a quarterback now without it being a fine and $50,000 coming out of your pocket, but it’s OK for them to cut me and tear my ACL and ruin my career and eliminate the ability to put food in my family’s mouth?” he said. “I don’t think it’s right at all.”

Umenyiora wasn’t exactly optimistic that cut blocks and other legal blocks below the waist would be outlawed anytime soon, but he feels better now that ex-Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney is on a recently formed NFL safety committee that will make recommendations to the league.

Umenyiora also echoed Brian Urlacher’s recent comments about the way many defensive players weigh injuries resulting from low blocks against blows to the head.

“Anybody who plays defense would much rather get hit in the head or get a concussion than have somebody take out your knees,” Umenyiora said. “That can set you back for a long period of time. [Low blocks] should be eliminated, and at some point, I think [they] will.”

* Jason Pierre-Paul set off some alarm bells by sitting out practice with a sore back, but coach Tom Coughlin expects the star defensive end to play Monday night against the Redskins.

Coughlin said Pierre-Paul was held out as a precaution because the soreness flared up during and after Thursday’s workout. Though the Giants downplayed it, Pierre-Paul’s back condition is something to keep an eye on the rest of the way.

“It just recently started bothering him,” Coughlin said.

* Michael Strahan made it to the round of 27 modern-era semifinalists for induction into Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The list, which also includes former Giants kicker Morten Andersen, will be reduced to 15 in January. If Strahan survives that cutdown, the former Giants star will learn the day before the Super Bowl in New Orleans whether he is among the players (as few as four or as many as seven) headed to Canton this season.

* Linebacker Jacquian Williams appears likely to miss his sixth consecutive game with a knee injury, despite being able to practice on a limited basis each of the past two days.

“If I had to guess if I would be out there, I would say ‘no,’ ’’ Williams said after practice. “There’s still a lot of soreness and things there [in the knee].”

bhubbuch@nypost.com