EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride confirmed that Domenik Hixon will start as the third wide receiver as expected.

Hixon has started as the third wideout the entire camp, and the Giants trust the veteran and know what they have with him.

"Right now, yeah," Gilbride said when asked if Hixon was the starter. "He’s a consummate pro. He’s always going to know exactly what to do. He’s always going to be technically very, very sound. He’s very dependable."

"You can trust that he’ll do the right thing and right now, there’s no evidence that there’s any residual limitations because of his injury," Gilbride added of Hixon, who is returning from consecutive seasons with torn ACLs. "Anything we’ve seen has been very positive from him."

The Giants still very well could utilize Ramses Barden, Rueben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan on certain situations as the third receiver alongside starters Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.

Locklear to start?: Gilbride said he has been impressed with the play of Sean Locklear at left tackle while Will Beatty has been out with a back injury.

Beatty has been making his way back on the practice field but it certainly sounds like Locklear will start against Dallas after an impressive preseason.

"With William out the entire preseason, all of a sudden he moved up to the starting position and has played real well," Gilbride said of Locklear. "He hasn’t hurt us in the pass game at all. His protection has been excellent. He’s been one of the better performers in pass protection."

Locklear was brought in to be the team's third tackle but he has shown he can start. Second-year tackle James Brewer also has been slowed by a back issue as well.

"We haven’t fallen off because when we’ve erred, it’s not been something that he did that hurt us, so I’ve been very, very pleased with him," Gilbride said of Locklear. "Obviously William coming back is a huge factor for us to have some depth and then play it out. This is like, I hate to say it, but it’s like [Beatty's] first exhibition game, but of course except it’s for real and so you’re going to be tentative watching how he plays."

"Watching him today, he was excellent at practice and he volunteered to do some scout work so he can get some quality work against Osi [Umenyiora] and those guys and he looked pretty good," Gilbride added. "So that was an encouraging sign and then James Brewer has just been in and out and hurt and we’ll see where he’s at health-wise before we make any decisions."

Gilbride said he did consider moving David Diehl back to left tackle but Locklear showed he can start at left tackle.

"We did," he said. "Very much so, but right now Sean is playing very well, so he’s been really as good as anybody we’ve had."

Gilbride on Black Unicorn: Gilbride also likes the potential he sees in Martellus Bennett.

Bennett said he hopes to be the prototypical tight end who can do it all for the Giants this season.

"He’s raw for a guy that’s been in the league, but he’s got a lot of potential," Gilbride said. "He’s got great passion. He wants to be good. He’s got all the ingredients to be a very good player for us and I think it’s just a matter of getting acclimated."