Victor Cruz was asked Wednesday whether he believes the long-lost dominating passing attack can find its way back to the Giants and Cruz was quick to say yes, and why.
“I think getting Hakeem [Nicks] back will help get ourselves back on track,’’ Cruz said. “We’re excited to have Hakeem back.’’
This was not the first time Cruz in the course of a 10-minute interview brought up Nicks, mentioning his teammate with unsolicited regularity.
“You asked me about him a few times,’’ Cruz explained.
It seems Nicks is on the mind. The wide receiver everyone is waiting to see have a breakout performance got back on the field and practiced on a limited basis Wednesday and all indications are his strained abdominal muscle will not prevent him from playing in Sunday night’s game against the Redskins at FedEx Field.
Nicks was a surprise scratch from last week’s season-crushing 24-21 loss to the Cowboys, with coach Tom Coughlin explaining Nicks didn’t practice much during the week and thus could not be trusted to be able to play with his normal speed or effectiveness.
It was the first game Nicks missed this season and without him, Cruz struggled to get free and finished with just two catches for 27 yards as the passing attack directed — and often misdirected — by Eli Manning could not get untracked against the league’s worst-ranked pass defense. That the punishing running game (season-high 202 yards) could not open things up down the field is further indictment of how feeble the air support actually was.
No wonder Cruz is anxious to get his running mate back on the field as the Giants (4-7), realistically devoid of any chance at the playoffs, look to avoid the embarrassment of losing to a Redskins team that is 3-8 and on a three-game losing streak following its worst loss of the season, a 27-6 smack-down by the 49ers.
“I’m happy to have him back, period, just to have him back in the huddle, in the offense, on the sideline, dressed and ready to go,’’ Cruz said. “He’s a guy we need. We need him to be his normal self in order to win games, in order for our morale to be up and things like that. We’re definitely happy to have him back.’’
Asked how the morale of the offense is lifted with Nicks on the field, Cruz said: “Just his energy, everything he brings to us is not just his play on the football field. It’s just his energy, his personality. We’re happy to have that back on our sideline.’’
It is not as if the Giants with Nicks were operating on all cylinders. Playing in the final year of his contract, his production is down across the board — 42 receptions, 620 yards and, shockingly, no touchdowns — but the roster is not exactly teeming with suitable replacements and a case can be made that his lack of impact has been a major reason for the demise of the offense and, as a result, the demise of the season.
Getting Nicks back for this game could be a boost, but in six career games against the Redskins, Nicks has 26 receptions but still is looking for his first touchdown.
Nicks, who went to lift weights during the media’s locker-room access period, said last week he has been dealing with a strained abdominal muscle for quite some time, so much so his agent suggested he get it checked to rule out a hernia. Nicks also said there was no way he would miss such an important game as a meeting with the Cowboys, but he did.
Now comes the hard part. Nicks is healthy enough to participate in practice but what about playing in the game?
“Hopefully we’re going to see,’’ Coughlin said of monitoring Nicks’ improvement. “Hopefully he will.’’
Cruz is hoping the same thing.
“He’s another weapon out there for us that we definitely need,’’ Cruz said. “With him, myself, Rueben [Randle], with all of us on the same page and clicking on all cylinders we’re a tough team to beat, especially with Andre Brown stepping into form and doing the things he does well I think we’re a tough team to beat. Having [Nicks] there is just an extra weapon that gives us more ability to do what we need to do on offense to win games.’’