On Nov. 22, the day after Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks played against the Eagles, he went to the Hospital for Special Surgery to have his left leg checked out. He felt pain down in the calf area but didn’t know what happened, whether he got kicked or hit, but he knew something wasn’t right.
“It was one of those situations I went in, I was thinking I was going for an MRI, they said you got to have immediate surgery,” Nicks said yesterday, the first time he’s spoken publicly about his injury. “I was like ‘Now?’ They said ‘Yeah, now.’ They said they caught it just in time.”
Nicks is on the mend from compartment syndrome — a compression of nerves and blood vessels within an enclosed space — but he won’t play Sunday; he’s shooting for the next game in Minnesota. Steve Smith, the Giants’ other starting receiver, doesn’t have much of a chance to face the Redskins this weekend, but it is even more likely this will be the last game he misses.
Smith yesterday took a big step forward, running routes and catching passes prior to practice. He did not participate in any team drills as he comes back from a partially torn pectoral muscle that has kept him out of the past three games.
He is not expected to be ready for Sunday’s game.
“There’s a chance,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t say a big chance but there’s a chance.”
Smith is eyeing a return against the Vikings.
“I’m shooting for that highly,” he said. “That’s a goal of mine. I think that’s possible.”
Nicks is scheduled to start running on Wednesday. He’s is sporting a nasty-looking scar of about eight inches, running from along his left calf and the issue moving forward is to make sure the wound heals properly.
“Pretty much that’s all it is, keeping the wound clean, making sure it doesn’t open,” Nicks said.
Smith wasn’t scheduled to do anything before practice, but both Eli Manning and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan convinced him to get some action. Smith said he’ll have discomfort the remainder of the season and will wear a protective harness under his pads to prevent his shoulder from getting into awkward positions. He has been running throughout and said he will be in better shape than he was when he does return.