National Football League

Nicks, Bradshaw sidelined for Giants

Published Sep. 19, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

Ross Jones

The Giants came away with a ‘W’ on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it came at a steep price.

Starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who left the game early with a neck injury, has been ruled out of Thursday night’s tilt against the Carolina Panthers. But that’s not it.

Wide receivers Hakeem Nicks, Domenik Hixon and offensive tackle David Diehl had their status downgraded to out on Wednesday. Nicks, who was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, had an impressive performance against the Bucs racking up 199 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions. Nicks broke a bone in his foot in May and underwent surgery. It appeared that Nicks had made a full recovery until his workload has increased over the past few weeks.

Diehl suffered an MCL injury last Sunday and his status beyond Week 3 is unclear. Will Beatty will replace him.

The Giants are likely to hand the bulk of the work to third-year running back Andre Brown. Brown made the most of his opportunity against the Bucs, finding the end zone once. Rookie David Wilson also could be used as a change-of-pace back.