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Nicks On Skipping OTAs: 'I Had To Take Care Of Some Things'; WR Takes Some Blame

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- As we all know, Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks was a no-show at the team's voluntary OTAs last month and early this month.

Coach Tom Coughlin was admittedly unhappy that his star receiver was not in attendance. Coughlin said that Nicks told him he'd be there, and the 25-year-old didn't provide an explanation as to why he opted to skip the practices.

The former first-round pick shed some light on the subject while in studio with WFAN co-hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton on Wednesday morning.

Nicks claimed that his decision to skip OTAs had nothing to do with his contract, and it was in fact a personal matter.

Hakeem Nicks

"The contract definitely wasn't an issue, man," Nicks told Boomer & Carton. "I was there when I was supposed to be there -- I was there for the minicamp. So that's what I looked forward to doing, and I was there with my teammates at that time when it mattered. As far as speaking about the past, I really don't bring it up. I just decided that I had to take care of some things that I needed to take care of."

Nicks broke his right foot in an OTA practice in 2012. But that painful memory wasn't what kept him from the workouts, and he insists that he's good to go for the upcoming season.

"I think health-wise I'm 100 percent, I'm full-go," Nicks said. "But my goal coming into the spring was to be ready and be be full-go for training camp. (The injury at OTAs last year) crossed my mind. But being a professional athlete -- football, at that -- you can't really think about injuries like that ... I just felt like I had to do what I had to do."

Nicks said that he and Coughlin took some time to speak and are on good terms, and the fifth-year player acknowledged that he could have handled the situation better.

"We had a one-one-one," Nicks told Boomer & Carton. "Like I said, I felt where he was coming from. I could have done a better job of reaching out on my behalf."

The 6-foot-1, 208-pounder caught 53 passes for 692 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games for Big Blue last season.

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