CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This wasn’t exactly the glorious homecoming Hakeem Nicks had in mind.
The Charlotte native and former North Carolina star was so excited about facing the Panthers again in front of friends and family he intentionally donned a three-piece Tar Heel blue suit to Sunday’s game at Bank of America Stadium.
A red suit reflecting extreme embarrassment would have been more fitting instead after Nicks was targeted just once and failed to record a catch in the Giants’ 38-0 loss to previously winless Carolina.
Besieged by a relentless Panthers pass rush that sacked him seven times, Eli Manning barely had time to look in Nicks’ direction — much less throw to him. As a result, Nicks was shut out in the catch department for just the second time in his five-year NFL career.
But if Nicks was embarrassed by the individual washout, he didn’t show it.
“I always feel like I’m open,” Nicks said. “You’ve got to control what you can control. I can’t throw it to myself.”
Only three teams since 1990 have started 0-3 and still made the playoffs, but if the 0-3 Giants end up missing the playoffs, they insisted Sunday that it won’t be due to a lack of effort.
“We’ll reload and fight every step of the way,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “We’re going to give it everything we’ve got. We’re going to battle and try as hard as we can to be competitive and turn this thing around. It’s difficult to see progress on a day like today, but we’re going to certainly do everything in our power to put ourselves back in a competitive opportunity.”
Added Justin Tuck: “Every year we’ve had slow starts, somebody has found a way to create a spark.”
The Giants might have lost Henry Hynoski for the season after the hard-luck fullback said he suffered an unspecified fracture in his left shoulder in the first quarter.
Hynoski, who had missed much of the offseason because of knee surgery, said he expects to know more after further tests Monday morning.
“It’s disheartening,” said Hynoski, who was replaced in the fullback role by tight end Bear Pascoe.
The Giants certainly won’t improve on their No. 32 rank in the NFL’s rushing charts this week after totaling just 60 yards in 16 carries against one of the league’s poorest run defenses.
David Wilson carried 11 times for 39 yards, most of them in second-half garbage time with the game well out of reach, and Brandon Jacobs continues to show he has nothing left in the tank with two yards in three carries.
Jacobs has 10 carries for six yards since being signed by the Giants — an average of 0.6 yards per carry.
While the shutout was the Panthers’ first since a Week 5 blanking of the Chiefs in 2008, Carolina has Coughlin’s number when it comes to whitewashes.
Sunday’s loss was just the third by shutout of Coughlin’s 10-year Giants coaching tenure, but two have been at the hands of the Panthers. Carolina also beat Coughlin’s Giants 23-0 in the 2005 wild-card playoffs at Giants Stadium.