When Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks skipped voluntary Organized Team Activities in May, coach Tom Coughlin said he wasn’t happy about it. Now Nicks is sitting out practice at training camp with a groin injury, and Coughlin is refraining from saying he isn’t happy about it.
Coughlin acknowledged today that it’s not exactly a great thing to have Nicks on the sideline. But Coughlin also added that he knows he can’t just yell at Nicks to get back in there, and that the team has to give Nicks the time he needs to recover.
“Certainly I want to see him on the field, and he wants to be on the field,” Coughlin said, via Conor Orr of the Star-Ledger. “It’s frustrating, but I’ve got to learn to control myself when it comes to that as well and just realize he’s trying like heck to get out here and he knows he needs to practice and work at it. He came in excited about being able to go but he had this little groin injury which I hope is not going to set him back for very long. But obviously, we’re taking all the necessary precautions.”
So while Coughlin might insist that Nicks get to the training room five minutes early every day, he’s not going to tell Nicks to practice until Nicks is ready.