After Hakeem Nicks broke his foot in May, the New York Giants receiver said he'd be back for the start of training camp.
We're weeks away, but Nicks isn't.
He told teammates Victor Cruz at Wednesday's ESPYs that he's aiming to be on the field for New York's Week 1 affair with the Dallas Cowboys.
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"He looks good. He's walking again on his own so that's definitely a good sign," Cruz told The Star-Ledger on Friday. "He told me he'll be ready and he told me he'll take training camp to continue rehabbing and continue to get his foot back right, but I definitely expect him to be ready by game one."
The Giantsdon't want to toy with the natural 6-to-12-week healing process and there's really no reason to rush Nicks back. This is a veteran receiver who understands New York's offense and won't need much time to catch up.
New York is a better team with Nicks on the field, but the Giants aren't lacking for weapons at the wide receiver position. Behind Cruz, Domenik Hixon, Jerrel Jernigan and rookie Rueben Randle make this a deep unit. We're also excited about Ramses Barden. These younger players will benefit from additional work in camp.
Back to this Week 1 matchup: We saw Dallas go down in flames against the Giants in last year's regular-season nightcap. It won't get any easier in the opener. New York's offense tilted toward a modern-day version of the run-and-shoot last year, and has only improved since facing the Cowboys. Dallas put a lot of work into its revamped secondary, but Rob Ryan has his hands full.
