Nicks believes he'll play; Stokley signed

It doesn't appear the Giants will have any major issues with their No. 1 receiver this week. Hakeem Nicks, who said he suffered a hyperextension and a bone bruise to his knee in Sunday's game against the Redskins, seemed confident he will play against the Rams on Monday. Though he did not practice yesterday, he did do some light running on the side without issue and hopes to be practicing by the end of the week.

"I don't see myself missing no time," he said.

If true, that would result in a collective "Whew!" from a Giants universe that has been peppered with long-term and season-ending injuries over the last month.

Though it gives the team some stability at the front of the rotation of receivers, there is still uncertainty in the back end. Even after the entire preseason and one game in the regular season, the Giants have yet to find a No. 3 guy to be on the field with Nicks and Mario Manningham, line up in the slot, and take some of the pressure off the big targets.

Victor Cruz got the first shot at the job on Sunday, but dropped a key third-down pass early in the game. Domenik Hixon lined up there a few times late in the game and caught two passes for 14 yards. Perhaps unsatisfied with the options on their roster, the Giants looked elsewhere.

Veteran Brandon Stokley has signed with the Giants and is expected to be on the practice field with them Thursday. Stokley was part of a wide receiver audition Wednesday that also included T.J. Houshmandzadeh and former Jet David Clowney.

Stokley, 35, has been in the league so long that he caught a touchdown pass against the Giants in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl in 2001. He's listed at 6-foot, 192 pounds and spent last year with the Seahawks, where he appeared in 11 games and caught 31 passes. He's also played for the Ravens, Colts and Broncos in his career. His best year was in 2004 when he had 68 catches for 1,077 yards and 10 touchdowns with the Colts and Peyton Manning.

Stokley, a free agent, had agreed to terms with the Redskins when the lockout was lifted this summer but backed out of that deal quickly because the team had added other receivers.

It remains to be seen if Stokley can get comfortable enough in the offense to play on Monday against the Rams. The Giants are one of only five teams that did not have a passing touchdown in their first game. There are only two starting quarterbacks who have yet to throw a TD pass in the preseason or regular season: Eli Manning and the 49ers' Alex Smith. A big difference between the two is that Smith's 49ers are 1-0.

It's that kind of urgency that has Nicks wanting to get back to work as quickly as possible. He injured his knee on a play in which he made a 68-yard reception but came up short of the end zone.

"Now is not the time to be going down," he said. "It's a matter of thanking God it wasn't nothing serious and getting back out there and making up for last week."