Hakeem Nicks is not having the season he needs to be having. The New York Giants wide receiver does not have a touchdown so far this year and now injuries are starting to creep up once again. Nicks has had a wide range of injuries that have hampered his progress and once again the receiver is listed as questionable for Week 12.
Nicks has been limited in practice all week with both an abdominal strain and groin injury. It has continued to add to the frustration of the wide receiver who cannot seem to get things going this year. Despite being listed as questionable, Nicks says he will be active against the Dallas Cowboys and intends to finally have that breakout game he needs.
"I'm not frustrated," Nicks said, via the Newark Star-Ledger. "So all that stuff that they're saying about me trying to be frustrated, that's not my character, that's not me. I'm a team player, I know my role, I play it well. And that's that. Like I said, competitive is completely separate from being frustrated. I'm competitive because...I'm just competitive because that's my nature. I've been that way since I was a little boy. I don't think nobody around here wants that to change."
If Nicks is not frustrated, he is doing a terrible job of hiding it. The wide receiver had a sideline outburst get caught on camera. Things got so heated to the point where Brandon Jacobs had to step in and calm him down after Nicks took himself out of the game for a play.
Tom Coughlin is not discussing the details of Nicks' season. The head coach noted that his wide receiver was doing just fine and would certainly be playing in the game against Dallas. Coughlin did not see any reason to dive into the outburst by Nicks, downplaying any idea that there is a riff in the locker room with the team.
"Well, if that was the case, I didn't notice it," Coughlin said. "I did hear, what Brandon Jacobs said was that 'I'd hope someone would help me understand too.' So I'll leave it at that."
Teammates are not concerned with Nicks' slow season. The receiver has just 620 yards off 42 catches this year. Justin Tuck is confident that Nicks is a fighter and will certainly be playing his best come Sunday.
"Hakeem is fine. Hakeem is fine," Tuck said." The one thing people don't understand about a situation like that is how competitive he is. It wasn't anything selfish, I think that's what it comes off as when you see it from the outside. But he's just competitive and he wants to help the football team out. He knows his talent and we know his talent. Just a little frustration there and I think he responded well, went back out there and helped us win football games."