Hakeem Nicks' homecoming in North Carolina turned into a nightmare. In the New York Giants' 38-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers, the wide receiver was targeted only once, and that was a throwaway by Eli Manning.
Nicks, a former Tar Heel who grew up nearby, didn't have a single catch. As Nicks' teammate Victor Cruz pointed out, it was a day in which "everything went wrong" for the Giants. Nicks tried to be careful with his words after the game.
"It's part of the game," he said, via Charles Chandler of the The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.). "You've got to control what you can control. I can't throw it to myself."
And Manning can't block for himself. The Giants have been the worst team this side of Jacksonville this season, and New York is not an easy place to play when things aren't going well.
Tom Coughlin, informed of the quote on Monday, was not pleased.
"I'll talk to him. That's not a smart thing to say," Coughlin said.
Coughlin faces one of the biggest challenges of his career in the coming weeks. The Giants players have to be careful not to turn on each other.
The "Around the League" Podcast broke down every Week 3 game. Click here to listen and describe.