New Colt Hakeem Nicks enjoys big day against Giants

It was hard to tell which looked stranger to the Giants: Hakeem Nicks wearing a Colts uniform or Hakeem Nicks making plays.

The former Giants first-round pick, who signed a one-year deal with the Colts during the offseason, torched his old team with five catches for 53 yards. He seemed to have fun doing so, drawing a flag for taunting Trumaine McBride during one of his catches. "He was having a good time the whole time he was in there," close friend Victor Cruz said.

Nicks had only two games for the 2013 Giants in which he recorded more catches than he had in a little more than one quarter of play Saturday night. Nicks was the only starting receiver on the field for the Colts with T.Y. Hilton and Reggie Wayne on the sideline. He took a few hits from the Giants, including a strong shoulder from Prince Amukamara and a body-slam tackle by Jacquian Williams.

Nicks said after the game that he "definitely put a little bit more emphasis on this."

About the only thing Nicks didn't do against the Giants was the same thing he didn't do for them last year: score a touchdown. He'll get another crack at that when the Colts visit the Giants in Week 9 of the regular season.

Royal strain

Amukamara left the game with a groin strain in the first quarter and did not return. McBride, playing in his first preseason game since offseason hip surgery, replaced him as the starting cornerback. Slot cornerback Walter Thurmond III also moved to the outside in some personnel groupings. Amukamara said he was able to jog on the sideline but could not "open it up." He likely will have an MRI on Sunday.

Giant steps

Kick returner Quintin Demps was disappointed by his fumble in the first quarter. "I have to protect The Duke," he said of hanging on to the football . . . Left tackle Will Beatty played for the first time since breaking his leg in last year's regular-season finale and came out of the game after three series without incident. "I felt good out there, but I'd feel a lot better with a win," Beatty said. "I felt like I had an average performance, but I don't want to be average. I want to be extraordinary." His backup, Charles Brown, left the game with a shoulder injury . . . S Cooper Taylor (toe) left the stadium on crutches with a protective boot . . . DT Markus Kuhn (elbow) left the game early but said he was fine by the end.