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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - Michael Boley has been liberated.

After being forced to watch every on-field exercise since the Giants convened four weeks ago, Boley today passed his physical and practiced with his teammates for the first time. Boley, who underwent hip surgery in late June, will work again tomorrow but will not play in Thursday's preseason finale at New England.

But right now, he's pleased to be wearing his helmet and pads again after being on the physically unable to perform list since Aug. 2.

"It's good to get off that list and get back and get the okay to get involved in team activities," Boley said. "I'm real excited.

"It's a big relief. I have been sitting out and just not being able to be involved in walkthroughs and being able to be out there with the team and actually go through stuff with them. It's been kind of frustrating, to be honest, but I'm really excited to be back."

Coach Tom Coughlin said, "We wanted him to get a little bit of work and he took some individual (drills)."

Boley was with the Giants throughout training camp at the University at Albany but was limited to rehabilitation, participating in meetings and watching practice. What is it like for a football player to attend training camp without being able to play football?

"Boring," Boley said, laughing. "It was a good experience to go through, because it helps you focus your mind a lot more vs. when you're out there you can actually be out there and physically get the reps. When you sit on the sideline day-in and day-out it helps you work your mind a lot more."

Despite all of the studying and the mental reps he took, Boley won't get completely comfortable with the Giants' defensive schemes until he actively participates on the field for at least a few practices.

"It's one thing to learn it on paper, learn it as you're looking, but once you actually go through it, there are some things that you might not have seen well while on the sideline," he said. "It's going to be a little bit of an adjustment when I get back."

Boley's surgery on June 24 repaired a torn labrum in his hip. He began to feel pain during the team's offseason conditioning program and it increased as the spring progressed.

"It just got to the point where it was a little sore, a little inflamed and after I kept practicing on it I got to the point where I needed the surgery," Boley said.

The day of the operation, the Giants announced they expected Boley to make a full recovery in 8-10 weeks. Today marks nine weeks and five days since the surgery. Boley believes he will soon be 100 percent, at the top of his game.

"No doubt," he said. "There are only so many things that we control when we play football. Being out on the field and being healthy, no one in this locker room is 100 percent healthy right now. They'll tell you that. It's one of those things you've got to live with."

Boley will not be permitted to play in the regular season opener against Washington on Sept. 13 because he will be serving an NFL suspension. He was asked if his objective is to be ready for Game 2 (the following week in Dallas).

"It's a goal," he said. "I mean, my goal is to be ready for Game 1. It's definitely a goal of mine."

The Giants secured Boley on the first day of the free agency signing period, Feb. 28, to play weakside linebacker. Last season, Gerris Wilkinson, Bryan Kehl and Chase Blackburn all played the position, the only one of the 22 on offense and defense in which the Giants employed three different starters.

In his first four seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, Boley played in all 64 games with 53 starts and had 365 tackles (260 solo), 6.0 sacks, five interceptions, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 28 passes defensed.

At this time of year, Boley is accustomed to putting on his pads and hitting people. He disliked having to wait so long to get on the field and join his teammates. Now that he's been cleared to go, Boley plans to make up for lost time.

"Every year about this time I'm usually practicing, so it's the first time I had to sit out like this," Boley said. "When you play this game, guys enjoy the offseason, but when it gets closer and closer I think guys actually get anxious to get back in the groove of things. I have been out longer than some of the other guys, so I am real anxious to get going."

NOTES

*David Diehl will not play in New England, the first game in his high school, college or NFL career that he will miss. Diehl, the Giants' left tackle, has tendinitis in his knee.

"Diehl has just been dealing with a patella tendinitis thing for the whole training camp, really," Coughlin said. "What the doctors wanted to try to do was relieve some of that so next week he can work. As of today, he is not scheduled to practice or play in this game."

Diehl has started all 96 regular season games and seven postseason games the Giants have played since joining the team in 2003. Diehl is the only player selected in the 2003 NFL Draft to start every game the previous six seasons. He is one of the 63 NFL players who have played in every game since the start of the 2003 season. Those streaks will continue, because preseason games do not count in the streaks. Diehl never missed a game in high school or at the University of Illinois.

*Safety Kenny Phillips (knee), wide receiver David Tyree (hamstring) and running back Danny Ware (ribs) did not practice.

"(Phillips) had some swelling, like he had in training camp," Coughlin said. "They had to deal with that after the game. That is why he is not working.

"(Ware) feels better, he feels better. He couldn't practice today but he feels better than he did yesterday, so that is a good sign."

*Two offensive linemen, Guy Whimper (hip flexor) and Andrew Carnahan (knee) left practice.

*Middle linebacker Antonio Pierce, who missed the last two games with a sore foot, returned to practice. He participated in all of the individual drills and about half of the team work.

*Defensive end Osi Umenyiora was with the team in the morning but was not on the practice field.

"There must have been something of a personal nature," Coughlin said. "I haven't personally talked to him; he did respond to Jerry (Reese), evidently by text. That's all I have. I haven't seen him so I can't tell you. I can't indicate to you what the reason was or anything, because I don't know."

Asked specifically if Umenyiora's absence was unexcused, Coughlin said, "Yeah, he didn't speak to me before he left."

EVENING UPDATE:

Osi Umenyiora Statement:

"I made a mistake by leaving the facility today. I was wrong. I came in here this afternoon and met with coach Coughlin, coach Sheridan and coach Waufle and apologized and explained why I left the building; that will remain between us. I have no problem with our defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan or any of our coaches. That's the end of it, as far as I am concerned."

*Seventh-round draft choice Stoney Woodson was among the three players released today by the Giants.

Also let go were wide receiver Taye Biddle and offensive lineman Terrance Pennington.

Woodson, a cornerback who was the 238th overall selection in the NFL Draft this year, was waived-injured with an ankle injury. At the University of South Carolina, Woodson played in 48 games with 23 starts and finished his career with 109 tackles (86 solo) and eight interceptions.

Biddle spent most of the 2008 season on the Giants' practice squad. He was on the active roaster for one game, but did not play. The Giants signed him to their roster on Jan. 12. Biddle caught a 12-yard pass in the preseason opener vs. Carolina.

Pennington joined the Giants on Jan. 16. He had previous NFL experience with Buffalo and Atlanta. He played in each of the Giants' first three preseason games.