Andre Brown wants to carry the load, but he’s not trying to be a hero.
That’s why, in his first game of the season coming off a broken left leg, Brown — en route to a career-high 30 rushing attempts in last week’s victory over the Raiders — asked out. He needed a break, and he wasn’t hesitant to alert the coaching staff to get him off the field.
“Yeah, I did,’’ Brown said. “I was sitting around for a couple of weeks. I did tap out a little bit.
“In certain situations you look at it and you know, I would rather take a blow and then come back out there on the next play where I’m capable of being 100 percent instead of 80. I do that, but as the season goes on, I’m pretty sure that I’ll get in better game shape and be able to go and not tap out.’’
Brown said his entire body was sore after his career-high 115-yard performance, but he did not miss any practice time and figures to carry the load Sunday against the Packers.
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With his big and usually secure hands, Hakeem Nicks always has been known as an excellent bad-weather receiver. It will be unseasonably warm on Sunday with a chance for some late rain, as the Giants hope Nicks can finally come up with some big plays and locate his first touchdown of the season.
“He’s trying,’’ offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. “He’s working like crazy. I’m very proud of his effort and his determination to be a focal point of our offense. We’ll never be as good a team if he doesn’t become that kind of player for us.’’
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The two teams showing up at MetLife Stadium on Sunday are desperately hanging in the playoff race. The Packers, after a 5-2 start, have lost their past two games since quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with a fractured left collarbone. The Packers have dropped out of first place in the NFC North behind the Lions (6-3) and into a second-place tie with the Bears.
“To be honest with you, we’re not worried about the playoffs right now,’’ receiver Jordy Nelson said.
“It’s something that is obviously the goal down the road, but we need to play football. We have enough problems going on.’’
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Eli Manning’s 16 interceptions continue to lead the league. The Packers aren’t exactly ball-hawks, though. They have an NFL-low three interceptions. … First-time starter Scott Tolzien should benefit from the sure-handed receivers around him. The Packers have dropped an NFL-low seven passes this season and, according to STATS, have the lowest rate of drops to catchable passes at 3.3 percent. Of course, some of that was helped by the pinpoint passing of Rodgers. The Giants are on the other end of the spectrum. Their 9.8-percent rate of drops to catchable passes is 28th in the league.