It’s been a week since Giants coach Tom Coughlin was asked if DT Shaun Rogers’ blood clot was a season-ending injury.
“Yes,” Coughlin told the media at the final training camp practice in Albany. “Unfortunately, it is.”
Coughlin admitted to being “sad” because he knew how hard Rogers had worked to lose 50 pounds in order to make weight for the Giants. Losing an entire season to a blood clot in his calf seemed like a cruel twist for the 12-year veteran.
But as the Giants moved players on and off their roster to bolster the numbers at defensive tackle, Rogers’ name remained suspiciously absent from the IR list. Now, a week later, we’re starting to learn why.
“There’s a ray of hope, that’s all,” Coughlin told the media Tuesday. “We’re just going to hang in there as long as we can.”
Coughlin was unable to explain all of the medical details -- and Rogers was unavailable to speak -- but suffice to say, Rogers was seen at Tuesday’s practice and there’s a chance his season might not be done after all.
“He is on his medication,” Coughlin said. “There is a chance that he could come back and play. That’s what we’ve been told. We’re just going to hang in there as long as we can, see if they can determine where he is, and how fast that he would be able to play.
“Nothing changed,” Coughlin continued. “He went in and had another opinion -- a little more positive would be the way to say it, which we’re happy about by the way.”
Coughlin went on to say that Rogers is on a “different medication” and “that medication is supposedly something that can be dealt with after a certain amount of time.”
But Coughlin is waiting to see how long that “certain amount of time” is.
This is an interesting development considering that second-year DT Marvin Austin is in a similar situation with his ailing back. On Monday, Coughlin said that Austin’s medication could allow the former second-round pick to get back on the field sooner.
“Marvin seems to be getting better and I think there’s a question of the type of the medication that he’s on and whether or not he can practice under that circumstance,” Coughlin said Monday. “Hopefully, there will be more clarity about that situation.”
So, depending on the specifics of Rogers' and Austin’s medications, the Giants’ DT depth might not be so bad after all.
Two painless practices for Hakeem Nicks: So far, so good. The Giants WR tested his surgically repaired foot twice this week, and he doesn’t have any complaints .
“I feel good,” Nicks said Tuesday. “Still, you know, no setbacks.”
Nicks, who said he did around 50 percent of his reps Monday and about 75 percent Tuesday, thinks the biggest obstacle is getting his timing back on his routes and releases.
What’s been helpful in that regard, Nicks said, is working against actual defenders because they can affect a receiver’s timing depending on whether they’re playing press coverage, bump-and-run or if the defense is giving some space.
Regardless of coverage, Nicks hasn’t felt too rusty catching passes from QB Eli Manning.
“It’s not far off,” Nicks said of the duo's chemistry. “Obviously, it needs some polishing up because, you know, been out for awhile. But we got enough time where we can make things right. You know, a good solid weak of practice, you know, and everything will be back.
Nicks was asked if he could be out of practice catching the football but didn’t think he could “ever lose that” ability.
But not everything is rosy for the fourth-year receiver.
Nicks doesn’t know if he’ll be able to play in the preseason, although he says he’s the type of player who usually likes to get some “live action” before stepping onto the field in the regular season. For now, he says, he’ll wait for the doctors to tell him what to do and when to do it.
“I feel like I’m right on schedule,” Nicks said. “You know, no setbacks, you know, this far, so we just got to keep going the way we’ve been going and just keep it simple, and go out there and do what I need to do.”
Giants flip tackles: Backup tackles James Brewer and Matt McCants switched sides on Tuesday, with Brewer getting time on the blind side and McCants getting his first taste of right tackle.
McCants told CBSSports.com that the position feels new to him because he only played left tackle at Alabama-Birmingham, but he said he should feel more comfortable with it in a practice or two.
Veteran Sean Locklear, who has mostly worked on the blind side in Will Beatty’s absence, said he’d feel completely comfortable if Coughlin wanted to flip him to right tackle to start the season, with David Diehl returning to left tackle, his former position. Beatty has been dealing with a back injury, but Coughlin said he hasn’t been progressing as the team had hoped.
“My main purpose is to learn the system,” Locklear said. “I spent most of my career, like I said, playing on the right. I’ve done it every camp almost, play all of it at left and then get switched to right, so I would feel comfortable at whatever they put me at.”
How much does a Black Unicorn weigh? The self-described “Black Unicorn, Martellus Bennett, said he’s down to 269 pounds after weighing in at 291 in the spring.
“Y’all wrote about 291,” he yelled at the media during practice. “Write about 269.”
David Wilson sticks with the 1s: Wilson, the Giants’ first-round pick, worked with the first team for the second consecutive practice, which means he was slightly less anxious on Tuesday than he was Monday.
“I was nervous a little bit when they first told me I was going with the ones,” Wilson said. “It had to sink in. I got out to practice yesterday, and you could tell I was a little bit jittery and nervous. I settled in, and now I’m just looking forward to the game.”
Coughlin has not declared Wilson to be Ahmad Bradshaw’s backup, but it’s safe to say he’ll continue to see more work with the first-team offense.
Who didn’t practice?: TE Travis Beckum (knee, PUP), DT Chris Canty (knee, PUP), CB Michael Coe (hamstring), DB Brandon Bing (hamstring), CB Jayron Hosley (toe), DT Marvin Austin (back), LT Will Beatty (back), LB Michael Boley (hamstring) and DE Adrian Tracy (hamstring).
RB Andre Brown sat out of Monday’s practice for an unspecified reason, but he was back on the field Tuesday.
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