Hakeem Nicks happy with route he took to the opener

Hakeem Nicks caught a lot of flack from fans for skipping the voluntary OTAs in the spring, nursing groin tightness early in training camp and skipping the first preseason game. But it was all part of his plan to get here as healthy as possible. And as far as he’s concerned, the plan worked.

“I definitely feel like I’m as good as I can be at this point,” Nicks said. “I definitely benefited from it. It helped me get to this point as well. My body feels extremely well, the best it’s felt in a long time. I just have to make sure I keep going uphill.”

Nicks went so far as to say that he expects to hit the ground running this season as opposed to last year’s opener when he caught just four passes against the Cowboys.

“Last year was ticky-tack,” he said of his lack of production. “I was taking whatever I could get and trying to be somewhat the best player I could be dealing with those injuries. But that’s in the past now. This is a new year. Not going to dwell on that no more and it’s time to go. The season starts now.”

And Nicks is excited about it. No more being careful with injuries or taking it easy in practices. He wasn’t even on the team’s injury report today.

“It’s gametime now,” he said. “We’re opening the season up now. Every game counts, every play counts. It’s time to get it.”