ekansekans's blog: "df"

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks practiced for basically the first time since the Super Bowl champions opened training camp in late July. Nicks was taken off the physically unable to perform list last week and was very limited until Mondays practice. The four-year veteran made a nice catch against cornerback Corey Webster in a seven-on-seven drill and caught a touchdown on a fade pattern during a late two-minute drill. "He seemed to be pretty good," coach Tom Coughlin said after practice. "He seemed to feel good and moved around well and did a good job with it." Neither Nicks nor Coughlin would speculate whether Nicks would play in either of the Giants final two preseason games. "Were going to go slow to make sure that theres never a setback," Coughlin said. "Hes very anxious to do more, but well go slow." Nicks broke his right foot during an organized team activity roughly three months ago and had surgery. He said he is running at full speed and added that his immediate goal is to get his timing back with Eli Manning. "Ive been running routes now for two weeks. Ive run every route in the route book and havent had a problem," Nicks said before practice. "I feel like I need to just go out there and keep taking care of the things that need to be taken care of, stay on top of it." A first-round draft pick in 2009, Nicks caught 76 passes for 1,192 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He was outstanding in the playoffs, catching 28 passes for 444 yards (a 15.9 yard average) and four touchdowns. The happiest player to see Nicks back was Victor Cruz, who has been getting guarded as the Giants No. 1 receiver in the preseason. "Thats my guy, and hes getting healthy. Hes healthy again," Cruz said. "His foot is right. I saw him out there, while we were up in Albany. He was running, doing all of the things that he had to do, to get back out on the field. So, Im happy to have him back, hes always been around, we talk all of the time, and its good to see him back on the field." ------ NOTES: LT Will Beatty remained sidelined with a back problem. Veteran Sean Lockleear, who was signed as a free agent in the off-season, has done well filling in for Beatty, but Coughlin wants to know who his left tackle is going to be soon. ... Second-year DT Marvin Austin said his back problem is better, but he didnt practice because the team is trying to determine whether he can with the medication that he is taking. ... Second-year LB Jacquian Williams returned to practice after being sidelined about a week with a hip pointer. ... Rookie CB Jayron Hosley, who returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown against the Jets, remains sore because of turf toe. Coughlin said the trainers are trying to keep him off his feet. ... With starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw sidelined with a bruised hand, first-round draft pick David Wilson got reps with the first team. Peterson Womens Jersey . Lewis is entering the last season of a $118 million, six-year contract and could be a candidate for the NBAs amnesty clause, meaning he may not end up playing for the Hornets if New Orleans chooses to cut him loose in order to clear space under the salary cap. Adrian Peterson Jersey . -- Royal Delta won the $2 million Ladies Classic by 1 1/2 lengths on Friday at Santa Anita, making the defending champion the only favourite to win on an upset-filled opening day of the Breeders Cup. http://www.azulvirtual.org/new.html .Y. -- When push came to shove, Carl Edwards got the best of Brad Keselowski.ASHBURN, Va. -- Robert Griffin III crashed Mike Shanahans news conference, slipping in the back door to take an aisle seat in the Washington Redskins auditorium. Soon, the franchise quarterback had a microphone in his right hand, ready to ask the next question. Shanahan, who is hard to rattle, couldnt help but laugh. "You got me by surprise there," the coach said. "Who is this guy?" "What did you do for New Years?" Griffin asked. "I tried to put a good game plan together. I wasnt sure how healthy you were, so it was hard without you calling me," answered Shanahan, still chortling away. "You got me good." Griffin has hardly behaved like a rookie all season, so theres no reason to think itll start now as he prepares for his NFL playoff debut. He was as loose as anyone Wednesday, whether it was playfully shoving Jarvis Jenkins into the defensive linemans locker or simply radiating the smile that has rarely been missing during his initial run through the NFL grind. It was the first practice for Sundays matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, the Redskins first home post-season game in 13 years. If the excitement was getting to either half of Washingtons rookie backfield -- Griffin or running back Alfred Morris -- it wasnt showing. "Ive been playing football since I was 5 years old. I just go out there and go have some fun. Thats what I do. So Im not going to think about, Its the playoffs," said Morris, who added that he doesnt really care for the attention hes getting for a 1,613-yard regular season bettered only by Adrian Peterson. The performances of Morris and Griffin has cornerback DeAngelo Hall proclaiming: "These arent ordinary rookies." "I havent seen a moment this year where theyve been caught up in the moment," defensive tackle Barry Cofield said, "or theyve seemed like the moments been too big for them." To a man, the Redskins say the entire team shouldnt be caught up in playoff nerves because theyve been playing win-or-else games for nearly two months. Every victory in the season-ending seven-game streak was necessary to get to 10-6 and win the NFC East. Notable stat: Washington is 7-0 since Griffin was selected as a team captain. Also, it helps that the Redskins haave a routine week to prepare for the Seahawks.dddddddddddd. Griffin will take that over the weekslong wait for college bowl games. "For bowl games, most of the time youre doing way too much thinking," Griffin said. "Trying to devise the perfect play for the perfect defence. And you get in a game and they do something totally different because theyre doing the same thing for the past month. So (this is) like a regular-season game, but with a playoff-game atmosphere." Griffin gave the latest update on the sprained lateral ligament in his right knee, which caused him to miss one game and has limited his explosive running ability in the two games since he returned. Hes still sporting a brace, which he adjusted while stretching at the start of practice. "A lot of people talk about the limp with the brace," Griffin said. "But any time you wear a brace like that, its to protect you, so its going to cause a natural limp. Youre not going to be able to bend your knee. ... But at the same time you can still generate power." Griffin said hes "pretty close" to the point where hes being limited by the brace more so than the actual injury, but that the doctors wont let him go without the extra protection. "So I try to do as much as I can without the brace," he said with a smile. "And then whenever they find out that I dont have it on, I have to throw it on." The bum knee has prompted Griffin to refine his play without much of a drop-off. He had a 102.4 passer rating in his first game after the injury, and he ran for 63 yards on just six carries in the regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. "If anything, the injurys shown me a lot, just from a quarterback perspective," Griffin said. "This games not easy, but it did show me some things that I can do to make the game easier for myself, easier on my body. Ironically Ive done a better job of protecting myself since the injury, sliding, getting down, getting all the possible yards I can and getting out of bounds. "And sometimes things have to happen like that for you to really, really grasp that, and its shown me a lot. I dont think Ive ever rushed for 10 yards a carry in a game, and I did that in this past game, so that was kind of funny." ' ' '