LITTLE ROCK — GIANTS Nicks off PUP list
ALBANY, N.Y. - Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks has been taken off the physically unable to perform list by the New York Giants and can start practicing with the team.
The Super Bowl champions made the move Monday after Nicks passed his physical. The four-year veteran will be limited for his first three workouts. His first could be today.
“I’m very excited about that,” Nicks said. “They’re letting me know that by the beginning of next week, I can start doing some stuff with the team; some individual and stuff like that. They still want me to take it slow and be smart about it. But I feel good about being out there progressing myself with the team slowly but surely.”
Nicks missed the first two weeks of training camp at the University at Albany while completing rehabilitation on a broken right foot that he hurt in May during organized team activities.
Nicks fractured the fifth metatarsal of his right foot May 24. He had a screw surgically inserted into the broken bone the next day.
Nicks caught 76 passes for 1,192 yards and 7 touchdowns last season. In the playoffs, he caught 28 passes for 444 yards (a 15.9-yard average) and 4 touchdowns.
COLTS Angerer out
INDIANAPOLIS - Chuck Pagano’s first NFL victory came at a pretty steep cost.
Less than 24 hours after Indianapolis beat St. Louis 38-3 in the preseason opener, the Colts’ new coach said starting inside linebacker Pat Angerer, last year’s leading tackler, could miss at least six weeks because of a broken foot.
“He’s the signal-caller, he’s the guy that stands in front of the huddle,” Pagano said Monday. “When you lose your middle backer for an extended period of time, it hurts a lot, and the guy is a warrior, he’s a Colt, he’s got all of Colt traits you’re looking for. Now it will be up to somebody else to step up and fill that void until we get him back.”
Angerer led the Colts with 146 tackles last season after replacing captain Gary Brackett, who missed most of the season with a torn rotator cuff.
EAGLES
Asomugha evaluated
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Philadelphia cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was evaluated for a concussion after colliding with teammate Nate Allen during a training-camp session Monday.
Asomugha, signed as a free agent last year after spending his first eight seasons with Oakland, also was left with a lacerated lip and sore neck as a result of the midair collision, which occurred on a pass play during a seven-on-seven period.
Quarterback Michael Vick attempted to hit wide receiver DeSean Jackson near the left sideline, but Asomugha and Allen, a third-year safety, converged.
“Just one of those plays,” Allen said. “It happens sometimes. His helmet went into my chest and my forearm caught him a little bit. It happened so fast, it’s hard to tell what hit what.”
Allen remained on the ground for a few minutes, coughing. But ultimately he was able to continue practicing.
Asomugha remained face-down and motionless as team trainers came to his aid and several teammates knelt around him. An Eagles spokesman said he never lost consciousness, but it was several minutes before he was able to regain his feet. He then made his way to a nearby cart and was driven to a field house adjacent to the practice field, where he was evaluated.
Asomugha, named to three Pro Bowls while with the Raiders, had 48 tackles and three interceptions in his first year with the Eagles.
Thomas retires
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Longtime offensive tackle Tra Thomas will officially retire from the NFL as a member of the Philadephia Eagles.
Thomas, who spent 11 of his 12 NFL seasons with Philadelphia, last played in 2009, with Jacksonville. He earned three Pro Bowl selections and was an All-Pro once during his time with the Eagles, and was voted by fans as the starting left tackle on the franchise’s 75th anniversary team.
Sports, Pages 20 on 08/14/2012