Groin latest ailment to sideline Giants' Nicks
Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks sat out the New York Giants' practice on Thursday while being treated for a groin injury.
"They just want to quiet it down, make sure that he heals before he goes back out and continues to maybe make it worse," said head coach Tom Coughlin.
Nicks is trying to get back to full speed after being hampered by knee and foot injuries last season.
"I want to see him on the field and he wants to be on the field," Coughlin said when asked if he's getting impatient with Nicks' lack of on-field work in training camp. "It's frustrating, but I've got to learn to control myself when it comes to that as well and just realize that you know what, he's trying like heck to get out there and he knows he needs to practice and work at it and he came in excited about being able to go and then he had this little groin injury, which I hope is not going to set him back for very long, but obviously they're taking all the necessary precautions."
Nicks and fellow wide receiver Victor Cruz sat out the team's offseason program, so they entered training camp behind in their preparation for the 2013 season.
"I think (Nicks) needs to practice. He knows it. He and I talk about it all the time and he knows it," said offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. "In order for you to be ready for the season, you need to have done it and done it over and over and done it wrong, made the adjustment and then have it become part of what you do, the correct way to do it.
"He's not there yet, he needs to continue to improve and he knows that. He understands that. In order for him to be ready to produce the way that he wants to produce and the way that we need him to produce, he needs to practice and get ready for that."
The one benefit has been the emergence of second-year wide receiver Rueben Randle, who is the clear-cut favorite to be the No. 3 receiver - and potentially more pending injuries.
"When he first got to this level he had a lot of improvements to make as far as his approach as a professional," Gilbride said of Randle. "Slowly, through the course of last season, he made some progress. By the end of last year, the progress that we made in the meeting room carried onto the field and it turned into big plays for us toward the homestretch of the season last year.
"He took and picked up right where he left off in the spring, didn't take a step back at all, and continued to progress. From that point, he ended up having a very good spring. So now we come to fall camp and he's picked up right where he left off at the end of the spring and now has continued to progress."
