NFL

Giants GM: Sitting Nicks might have paid off

Would the Giants have been better off shutting down Hakeem Nicks, hoping he could heal his body for the stretch run?

Week after week, Nicks pushed himself onto the field, dealing first with a surgically-repaired right foot and later with a balky left knee that was often swollen and sore. He had just one game all season — Week 2 against the Buccaneers — in which he resembled the big-play receiver the Giants have come to expect. It was in that game Nicks hurt his knee.

“Hakeem Nicks has been one of the linchpins in our offense,’’ general manager Jerry Reese said yesterday on ESPN New York 98.7. “He was banged up, and I really think it took it’s toll on our offense and what we are trying to do. He was trying to fight through it.

“But in hindsight, I think if we had to think about it again, maybe we would have taken him out a little quicker than we did. But that is neither here or there at this point. … But I do think it affected the quarterback’s play some.”

If Nicks had been shut down for an extended period, perhaps he would have been stronger down the stretch, rather than fading out. He finished the season with 53 receptions for 692 yards and three touchdowns. He missed three straight games (at Carolina, at Philadelphia, vs. the Browns) early in the season when the knee became an issue. In Week 16 at Baltimore, he failed to catch a pass in a game for the first time in his career. He was on the field for only one play in the season-ending victory over the Eagles.

After the Eagles game, Nicks said he does not anticipate needing surgery and was looking forward to resting his foot and knee.

* For 16 of the past 17 summers, the Giants held their training camp at the University at Albany, but when they broke camp last summer, there was a strong feeling they would not be back. After all, they built an expansive practice facility, the Timex Performance Center, and in the lockout summer of 2011 stayed home for camp and then won a Super Bowl.

Albany is now resigned to history as far as being the summer home of the New York Giants. The team this week informed the University at Albany Athletic Director Dr. Lee McElroy, and the mayor of Albany, Jerry Jennings, they will train this summer in their New Jersey site.

“The University at Albany and the Capital Region have been great hosts for us during our training camps,” Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said in a joint statement. “UAlbany truly has been the summer home of the Giants.

“We have told Mayor Jennings and Dr. McElroy that we will evaluate our training camp situation on an ongoing basis and certainly would not rule out a return to Albany in the future if it makes sense for both parties.”

The Giants first trained in Albany in 1996 and their 16 training camps at the school is the most of any site in the team’s 88-year history.

“It has been a tremendous experience for our city to have the Giants here,” Jennings said. “I have told them they are always welcome. This is Giants country, and we wish them nothing but the best.”

* The Giants signed 13 players to reserve/future contracts, including QB Curtis Painter, who started eight games for the Colts in 2011. With David Carr a free agent, Painter could be in line to compete for the backup spot behind Eli Manning. Painter spent three seasons with the Colts, was cut by the Ravens last summer and did not play in 2012.

Six of the signed players ended the season on the practice squad: T Matt McCants, T Levy Adcock, G Stephen Goodin, TE Larry Donnell, CB Laron Scott and DE Matt Broha. Also signed were LB Jake Muasau, WR Brandon Collins, CB Trumaine McBride, WR Kevin Hardy, G Michael Jasper and DT Bobby Skinner. … Antrel Rolle and Eagles T King Dunlap squared off in the regular-season finale and were both fined $7,875 for unnecessary roughness.