Tuck, Nicks closer to playing Monday

Justin Tuck and Hakeem Nicks both appear to be in line to play against the Rams on Monday night.

Tuck, who has been dealing with a neck injury for over two weeks, was limited in practice Thursday but Tom Coughlin said he did pretty much everything the Giants asked him to. Tuck said his "gut feeling" is that he will play, but admitted that he felt that way heading into the game against the Redskins as well. He wound up sitting out when doctors did not clear him to play.

That could possibly happen again, although Tuck practicing in shoulder pads and the team waiving DE Justin Trattou certainly point to Tuck's return.

As for Nicks, he said the swelling in his injured knee is going down and the flexibility is increasing. He jogged for a second straight day and expects to test the knee further Friday.

"If I'm feeling good like the way I'm feeling [now], I feel like I can go out there and play [Monday]," Nicks said.

Jones keeps middle job

The Giants had workouts for several veteran linebackers last week when Jonathan Goff was injured. They didn't sign any. Was that because of how rookie Greg Jones played in his first game?

Coughlin said, "We think that he can do it and he'll learn from the experience that he's had."

For Jones, that's a big vote of confidence. After a frenzied first week in the NFL, he said he's settling in now and feels more confident about his job, but not too comfortable. "The tryout is never over," Jones said. "That's the mind-set I always had. You have to step up and prove yourself, especially me being a rookie . . . It's my job to keep stepping up until they think it's not."

Giant steps

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said there were seven plays of 18 yards or more by the Redskins and five were caused by errors. "I expect more out of those guys, no question," he said of the secondary . . . TE Travis Beckum (hamstring) did not practice.