Giants' Hixon feels 'real good' in return
Giants cornerback Corey Webster, left, tries to fight off the block by wide receiver Domenik Hixon at practice during training camp at the Timex Performance Center. (Aug. 15, 2011) Credit: Newsday/Joe Epstein
Domenik Hixon flashes an easygoing smile and proclaims himself "real good," "100 percent" and "real confident" as he's peppered with a succession of questions all framed around the basic theme: Are you really OK?
It's been 14 months since the Giants' wide receiver and return specialist tore the ACL in his right knee at minicamp, requiring surgery and forcing him to miss the 2010 season. His first game back was Saturday's 20-10 preseason loss to Carolina, in which he had five catches for 86 yards. He says he doesn't think about his injured knee until a reporter invariably brings up the topic.
"People remind me more about my knee than I do myself," Hixon said Monday. "Until someone says something, I really don't think about it."
But he does think about the year-plus he spent without football, and how grateful he is to be back on the field.
"I took about 15 minutes during pregame [Saturday], sat at midfield, just kind of hung out and took it all in," he said. "This is what I worked for, and there was more joy and happiness than anything."
Hixon said he knew he was back once he made his first reception for a 13-yard gain late in the second quarter.
"Getting roughed up a bit, I was excited, and then that kind of woke me up," he said.
The bad dream was behind him. No more having to talk himself into taking it "one day at a time." No more struggling to just get back to normal.
"I don't think people understand that when you have knee surgery, you lose all your muscle in your quad and your calves," he said. "So you have to build all that up. Literally start walking, jogging and running. But it takes, literally, six, seven months before you start doing all that."
Hixon believes he's stronger now, and that's certainly the mentality to have as he competes for the third receiver spot that was vacated when Steve Smith bolted to the Eagles. He also thinks he'll win the punt-returning job.
But for now, faith must be tempered with caution. He practices only every other day. On Monday he caught punts but did not return them. Tom Coughlin was noncommittal about when he will catch them in a game.
So while he continues to test the knee, his talent and Coughlin's confidence in him, Hixon just goes to work.
"Every year you work to be a number one," he said. "You work hard for that position. However it falls, it falls."
