Hakeem

Nicks

Doctors are almost certain that Nicks has a mere bone bruise and no real damage in his knee. He’ll miss practice due to swelling, but he still has a chance to play against the Rams Monday night if the knee loosens up. Either way, Nicks’ injury is not a long-term concern, and the extra day to heal should help his chances. It’s still early in the week, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Nicks is a game-time decision in Week 2. His availability is going to come down to swelling reduction, which can be unpredictable.

It’s a positive sign that Giants trainers let Nicks be active at all on his swollen knee. They’ll see if it swells up again tomorrow after the light workout. We’re expecting Nicks to be listed with a questionable tag this week.

Even though the Daily News’ source characterized Nicks as “OK,” the star receiver isn’t out of the woods yet. He has serious swelling in his knee and his status for Monday night is “at best, uncertain.” Nicks is almost certain to miss practice time this week.

Clayton is confirming a New York Daily News report that Nicks is “at best, uncertain” for Monday night’s game against the Rams. “The knee is day to day but there is definite concern about this week,” says Clayton. We’re guessing that Domenik Hixon would start opposite Mario Manningham if Nicks can’t go. Hixon could shape up as a nice “handcuff” waiver addition with St. Louis possibly missing both starting corners.

HC Tom Coughlin said at his Monday press conference that Nicks is dealing with “some type of injury.” An ominous sounding statement, but far from an indication Nicks’ injury is serious. He does appear to be a question mark for Week 2, however, after his knee swelled up on Monday. If Nicks doesn’t go against the Rams, Mario Manningham can be treated as a WR1.

Some alarm bells went off when the Giants announced their star wideout would undergo further evaluation on his knee after Sunday evening X-rays came back negative, but Nicks showed up at the team facility shortly thereafter and declared himself fine. Great news, but keep an eye on practice updates.

“I don’t see myself missing anytime,” said a confident Nicks, who didn’t practice on but was cleared for running. Nicks insists he feels “much better” now than he did earlier in the week. Nicks is a competitor, so be sure to take his words with a bit of a grain of salt. It’s still promising to hear after ESPN’s John Clayton reported that Nicks’ Week 2 status was “in doubt” on Tuesday.

This sounds bad at first glance, which is probably the reason for the early-week negativity. Nicks, however, says he’s recovering quickly and the swelling in his knee has subsided. He believes he’ll be practicing by week’s end.

While this is certainly a positive sign, we’d caution that it’s far from a sure thing. The Giants are adamant that Nicks’ availability will not be determined until the medical staff watches him perform in pre-game warmups. Nicks is still a game-time decision. We’ll know the inactives around 7:30 ET.

Nicks is still considered a game-time decision, but this is the second positive report about his status heading into pre-game warmups. ESPN’s Suzy Kolber previously reported that Nicks “likely” would play against the Rams. The inactives list will be posted by 7:30ET Monday. We’d bet on Nicks playing, but Mike Sims-Walker, Domenik Hixon, and Brandon Gibson are all worthwhile fall-back plans if he’s a surprise, last-minute scratch.