Hakeem Nicks was fired up to play in his hometown in prime time.
But if it had been a Sunday game, he might have actually played.
Nicks said coming back on the short week was too much to ask, and his surgically repaired right foot kept him from the homecoming against the Panthers last Thursday he planned for.
“If it was a regular Sunday and it was a normal week, I think I would’ve been able to go out there and compete,” Nicks said, via Jorge Castillo of the Newark Star-Ledger. “I don’t think it was a setback. I think it was more of a cautious situation where it was just too quick of a turnaround on the foot. . . .
“I ain’t going to say it was difficult, but it was just a decision we had to make. We had to be smart. It’s still early in the season. It’s just too quick of a turnaround. Our coaches and team trainers decided to go ahead and sit this one out. So that’s what I had to do.”
In his stead, Ramses Barden torched the Panthers for nine catches for 138 yards, the kind of night he was hoping to have in front of the family and friends he bought tickets for while he stayed back in New Jersey rehabbing.
Nicks didn’t practice Monday, but said he expects to be ready for this week’s game against the Eagles. Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he expects Nicks to be limited to one practice a week, likely each Thursday.