From the perspective of wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, his Giants team steps onto the field and wins their way to the headlines. That other New York team, he says, tries too hard to make the headlines.
In an interview with WFNZ in Charlotte’s afternoon show “The Drive” on Friday afternoon, the former North Carolina wide receiver found time to talk about the unflappable Eli Manning and also sprinkled in a little bashing of the Jets. For Nicks, the Jets are seemingly obsessed with media attention, something his team has consistently made it a point to shun.
“We look at it like the Jets — they can get the credit. They like being in the limelight,” Nicks told “The Drive.”
The comments by Nicks are reminiscent of the Christmas Eve showdown between the two New York teams when the Giants felt the Jets spent too much time talking to the media in the days leading up to the game and didn’t give the eventual Super Bowl champions enough credit. Even though the Jets rhetoric was toned down by their standard, the Giants still felt slighted.
Rather than respond through the headlines and engage in a verbal sparring match, the Giants produced a 29-14 win that all but eliminated the Jets from the postseason.
“We feed off of our coach. Our coaches don’t talk and play the game. I think that is what we feed off of,” Nicks said.
“We know what we are capable of doing. We don’t gotta sit here and boost ourselves up. We’ll go out there and prove out on the field. That’s what we did.”
Jets notes
» The Jets announced two signings on Tuesday, first inking defensive end Jay Richardson to a deal. Richardson was a fifth-round draft pick in 2007, who spent three years with the Raiders and then a season with the Seahawks. He did not play last season, but in his four-year career he has played in 55 games, with 22 starts, and has posted 86 tackles and seven sacks.
» They added depth to the secondary as well by signing DeAngelo Smith, a former fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2009.
» Another signing could be pending as defensive end Aaron Maybin, claimed off waivers from Buffalo last season, announced that he has a new deal. On Monday morning, Maybin tweeted, “Just inked the new contract….blessed 2 have this opportunity. Time 2 go to work #mayhem.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
