At least the Giants are familiar with this whole “severely shorthanded” thing.
That will be the storyline for Big Blue once again tomorrow night in Philadelphia after Hakeem Nicks suddenly was listed as doubtful – and most likely unable to play — because of the onset of swelling in the star wide receiver’s left knee from overcompensating for an injury to his right foot.
Both problems stem from the same play in the Giants’ Week 2 win over the Buccaneers, when Nicks had his right foot stepped on by safety Mark Barron. The injury forced Nicks to sit out the Thursday night game four days later at Carolina, but that was thought to be just a precautionary measure until yesterday’s developments.
“It’s something we have to deal with,” said wideout Victor Cruz, who talked as if he expects Nicks to miss the game. “Guys get injured, guys get nicked up, but we’ve just got to understand that we’ve been here before and guys have stepped up.”
Nicks didn’t practice yesterday, and the Giants are holding out hope that another day of rest will allow them to upgrade him on the official injury report today. But team officials and Nicks’ teammates didn’t sound optimistic their No. 1 receiver would be in uniform at Lincoln Financial Field.
If Nicks can’t play against the Eagles tomorrow, he will have plenty of company in street clothes after the Giants officially ruled out offensive tackle Dave Diehl (knee), cornerback Jayron Hosley (hamstring) and linebacker Keith Rivers (hamstring).
Another cornerback, Michael Coe, was listed as questionable with a hamstring problem, but Coe told reporters after practice he is pessimistic about playing against Philadelphia because the Giants hope rest will keep his injury from becoming a lingering issue.
As a result, the 2-1 Giants are likely to have just three available corners (Corey Webster, Prince Amukamara and Justin Tryon) against a potent Eagles passing attack that will have Jeremy Maclin back from a hip problem. But Webster isn’t at full strength, because of a broken right hand, which means coach Tom Coughlin could end up moving undrafted safety Will Hill to corner.
Coughlin resorted to some dark humor when asked about his corners.
“Only having three certainly isn’t like having five,” Coughlin said. “We’ll see how that goes. We may dress one of the people from the media.”
At least there was some positive injury news amid all the gloom, though. Safety Antrel Rolle, who had missed practice Thursday with a sore knee, returned yesterday and appears to be full-go to face the rival Birds in prime time — a much-needed boost to the Giants’ depleted secondary.
Running back Ahmad Bradshaw and receiver Domenik Hixon, both of whom sat out last week’s 36-7 prime-time rout of the Panthers, also practiced fully and are listed as probable.
On the bright side, it’s not as if Coughlin’s team is unaccustomed to playing shorthanded.
That was a storyline much of last season before it went on to win the Super Bowl, and it was the case again last week until running back Andre Brown and wideout Ramses Barden both stepped up big as replacements with the best games of their respective NFL careers.
Brown rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns, averaging a whopping 5.7 yards per carry, and Barden also came out of nowhere to haul in nine passes for 138 yards.
“I definitely feel more confident after the other guys got substantial playing time last week and came up big for us,” Cruz said. “We know people are capable of stepping up.”