With Brandon Jacobs struggling with a hamstring injury, Sunday could be New York Giants running back Peyton Hillis's last audition to stay on the team before Andre Brown and David Wilson return. Hakeem Nicks, meanwhile, may still be dealing with a lingering finger injury.
New York's backfield remains in flux. Wilson (neck) has already been ruled out for Week 8, and Jacobs (hamstring) didn't practice on Thursday; Michael Cox and Hillis are New York's only healthy running backs for Sunday.
Hillis will again shoulder the running load. After rushing 18 times for just 36 yards and a touchdown on Monday, Hillis will be expected to improve his yards per carry. Sunday gives the 27-year-old an opportunity to prove he deserves to not only be on the Giants' roster, but also have a heavy workload.
With a Week 9 bye, Sunday is Hillis's last chance to make an impression - to the Giants and to other teams. Both Wilson and Brown are expected to return after the bye, and assuming Jacobs is healthy too, the Giants' backfield will suddenly become overcrowded.
Nicks, meanwhile, hasn't looked impressive in the final year of his deal. It's a contract year, which makes him the subject of trade talk, but Nicks has caught just 27-of-56 passes thrown his way for 470 yards and no touchdowns.
His struggles continued on Monday against Minnesota, where he caught only two of the 10 passes thrown his way, including missing at least three catchable balls.
The dropped passes, along with attempts to catch the ball one-handed throughout the season, stirred speculation that Nicks is still dealing with the dislocated middle finger he injured in Week 2, according to New York Daily News.
Nicks went for an X-ray after the game on Monday, but he didn't pin his struggles on his finger.
"...The finger ain't nothing to talk about," Nicks said, via The News.
New York visits Philadelphia on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. ET.
