New York Giants WR Hakeem Nicks sitting out of camp to be smart and avoid injury

New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks sat out of training camp practices Thursday because of a nagging groin injury. He first felt tightness in his groin on Sunday, but it wasn’t until Thursday that he sat out and he is expected to sit out Friday again, not because he is too injured to participate, but because he is being smart.

“I wouldn’t even categorize it as an injury,” Nicks said, via the NY Daily News. “It’s just being smart coming off of the problems I had last year with the knee and the foot. I just don’t want it to be ongoing. I’ll be out there as soon as they let me; I think in another day or two.”

Nicks has been often injured in his career. In 2012 he rushed back from a foot injury in training camp last season and when 2012 was winding down he was dealing with a series of knee issues. The fact that he is in a contract year is also probably playing a role in his thought process.

“Coming off last season, we play it safe, play it cautious,” Nicks said. “I don’t think it’s nothing serious. If it was a game planning situation and we were going into Week  1, I definitely don’t think I’d be sitting out or nothing like that. But with it being early in training camp, we just want to be smart about it.

“I don’t feel frustrated at all,” he added. “It’s only the second week of camp. I think coming off of last year, I’m definitely trying to be smart in training camp as well. So just by talking it like that, no I don’t have any problem with it at all.”