Nicks back on bikes, Phillips still sidelined
Washington Redskins defensive back Cedric Griffin stops New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. (Dec. 3, 2012) Credit: AP
Hakeem Nicks is back on the injury report, a list he can’t seem to escape this season.
The Giants’ wide receiver was inactive during today’s practice and riding a stationary bicycle in the injury area. It’s presumably the same knee injury that has given him trouble all year on and off that had him sidelined today. He was not on yesterday’s injury report and played against the Redskins on Monday night. In that game he took a blow to the head and had a bloody nose.
Also on the bikes were Travis Beckum (knee), Tyler Sash (hamstring) Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) and Kenny Phillips (knee). Beckum and Sash will likely not play against the Saints on Sunday. Bradshaw, if he follows the schedule he’s been on for the last two months or so, will be limited tomorrow and play on Sunday. But the Phillips injury is a concern.
The Giants looked so good with him on the field against the Packers two weeks ago. Then, after practicing last week, he was severely limited against the Redskins. He played only 20 defensive snaps on Monday night, mostly on third downs. That’s about 37 percent of the time. Mark Herzlich was the only player to have fewer snaps on defense than that, and he took just eight as Chase Blackburn’s ankle was being attended to.
Tom Coughlin said Phillips’ limited snaps against the Redskins were a “combination” of his knee injury, which has been lingering since Week 4, and the gameplan. But it sounded like the gameplan earlier in the week was to have Phillips back on the field in a full capacity.
Coughlin was asked yesterday if Phillips will be available this week.
“We’ll see,” he said. “All I can tell you is we’ll see.”
The rest of the Giants all seemed to be practicing as close to fully as we were able to determine during the portion of the workout open to the media. That included linebackers Chase Blackburn, Michael Boley and Jacquian Williams, all of whom were limited in yesterday’s glorified jog-through, and David Baas, Domenik Hixon and Jason Pierre-Paul who were on the injury report but jogged-through fully (and glorifiedly one would imagine) yesterday.
