EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Hakeem Nicks said Monday that he did not suffer a setback, and he did not play against the Panthers in order to be cautious with his surgically-repaired foot.

"I think if it was a regular Sunday and it was a normal week, I think I would have been able to go out there and compete," Nicks said. "I don’t think it was a setback. I think it was more of a cautious situation where it was too quick of a turnaround with the foot and all the pounding that I did on the foot in that last game."

Nicks expects to play against Eagles on Sunday night. Coach Tom Coughlin said Nicks will likely follow his routine of practicing once a week (likely on Thursday) in preparation for the game.

Nicks was downgraded from questionable to out last Wednesday, before the team left for its game against Carolina. With only three days between their win over Tampa last Sunday and their Thursday game against the Panthers, the Giants opted to rest Nicks after seeing the receiver feel pain while trying to run in a jog-thru that Wednesday morning.

"I did some running on Wednesday," Nicks said. "It didn’t feel great but it wasn’t too bad. Had to look at it as a situation that we had another big game coming up with Philly."

"It was a decision we had to make and had to be smart," Nicks added. "It is still early in the season. It was just too quick of a turnaround."

Nicks said the two weeks of rest between the Tampa Bay game and the upcoming Philadelphia game will help his foot.

"My body is feeling pretty good right about now," Nicks said. "Just got to get out in practice and see how it goes."