Hakeem Nicks has no regrets playing through pain

Hakeem Nicks' Week 2 knee injury should have sidelined him for six to eight weeks, but the Giants receiver played through it. The result was a gutsy but unproductive season that ended with no receptions for Nicks in the final two games.

"I don't have any regrets," he said Monday. "It happened. I played through it. We didn't get to the playoffs. It wasn't the season that we wanted, but things happen and I just look forward to coming back strong."

Nicks might require surgery, although he will first see if rest heals the knee. He said the broken bone in his foot that sidelined him for most of the preseason was a non-factor much of the second half of the year. Much as Nicks was, it turned out. In the last five games, he had 13 catches and one touchdown.

"He just wasn't quite the same playmaker that we have become used to when he can play," Eli Manning said. "So I told him that we have to get him healthy. I know it's frustrating for him, but that's football. You're going to have injuries, and you kind of hope that if you get an injury, you take a few weeks, you get healed up and come back. It just wasn't that simple this year, and it obviously can affect an offense when one of your number one receivers is not playing to the level that we know he can because of an injury."

Boley on the way out?It was a familiar feeling for Michael Boley, being marginalized as a role player in special-teams packages and losing his starting job as linebacker. That's how his tenure in Atlanta ended four years ago. It also could be how his Giants tenure ends.

He has a year left on his contract, but after the way this season ended, he's not sure he'll be back. "You don't want to end the season not starting," he told Newsday. "That wasn't my decision, that was Coach's decision . . . I love it here. This is a great team, a great organization. In my mind, I plan to be back."

Giant steps

Tom Coughlin said he does not anticipate making any changes to his coaching staff . . . With several GM openings around the league, Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross will surely be a candidate . . . C David Baas said he'll need offseason surgery, likely on his injured hip. G Chris Snee likely will require surgery . . . As the only 9-7 team in the NFL, the Giants will have the 19th pick in April's draft.