Nicks and Smith appear on track for Sunday return

Eli Manning described the possibility of getting Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks back this week as “a little Christmas present.”

“It’s good to get some guys back healthy,” Manning said after working on the field with Smith and Nicks for the first time since they were sidelined by injuries. “We can do a little bit more with our passing game. Guys will be back at their natural positions. That helps out a lot when you go into your multiple receivers … The more guys you have that can play, can step up and fill spots, the stronger we can be.”

The normally reserved Smith even spoke with a little of the Christmas-morning excitement after practicing on a limited basis.

“It was like the best day of my life football-wise,” Smith said. “You just realize how much you miss playing and practicing.” He was asked how he is feeling and he said “Good.” Just good? “With two exclamation points.”

Smith figured to be ready for this game against the Vikings. He was practicing a bit last week and was listed as doubtful against the Redskins. But that Hakeem Nicks sounded just as optimistic and excited about playing this weekend was a surprise. He was expected to miss three weeks and if he plays on Sunday he’ll have missed only two.

“I’m a fast healer,” he said.

Nicks was listed as limited and said he participated in about 60 percent of the team’s practice snaps on Wednesday. He even ran a few deep patterns.

“I did more than I expected, more than we all expected, but it felt good,” Nicks said. “My mentality is if I’m practicing, I’m playing. Go hard out there in practice, and hopefully they’ll let me play. I’m pretty sure I will.”