Updated Oct 31, 2011 7:00 PM ET

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)

The New York Giants may be heading to New England for their first regular-season game against the Patriots since their Super Bowl season without their top receiver and one true deep threat.

Hakeem Nicks tweaked a hamstring on the Giants’ next-to-last series of the 20-17 win over Miami and his status for Sunday’s game is uncertain.

Coach Tom Coughlin described Nicks’ injury as day to day, but hamstring injuries are troublesome. Cornerback Aaron Ross was sidelined for most of the 2009 season with a hamstring problem.

Nicks’ injury is a major concern because the Giants have relied on the passing game much more this season with the running game bogged down. The third-year pro is tied for 13th in the league with 38 catches, and that’s despite drawing frequent double coverage.

”He’s a big-play guy and he stretches that field for us and he’s a guy that can go up and get it at any given time and change the momentum of the game,” said second-year pro Victor Cruz, who would probably replace Nicks in the starting lineup if he could not play. ”We understand that he’s important to our team and losing a guy like that, you’re losing a big chunk of your offense.

”Our guys have to step up. We have to get our running game going. Myself and Mario (Manningham) and Devin Thomas and Michael Clayton are going to have to step in and fill that void.”

Nicks was not in the locker room to discuss his injury, which happened while running a pattern late. After the game, he said he felt something wrong on the play and took himself out just to play it smart. He walked off the field with his hand on his right hamstring.

The team would not say which one he hurt.

Cruz, who caught a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning with less than six minutes to play, hopes to see Nicks on the field on Sunday. If not, he is ready to step in.

”Anytime you get an opportunity to go in there and play and have an opportunity to be the number one or two guy and make some big plays, you always want to be excited,” said Cruz, who has 28 catches for 497 yards and four touchdowns despite his limited playing time. ”I understand for us to play at a top notch, we need all three of us to be out there and to be clicking on all cylinders.”

Nicks has missed some time in his first two seasons. He sat out two games with a leg injury and one with a broken toe last year, and two early in his rookie season with a foot injury.

These Giants have found ways to overcome injuries, though. When Manningham missed the game against the Eagles, Cruz stepped in and caught three passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

New York also has another option if Nicks cannot play.

Ramses Barden, a third-round pick in 2009, has been on the physically-unable-to-perform list since training camp with an ankle injury. He started practicing last week, so the Giants have 21 days to decide whether to activate him or put him on injured reserve.

Barden believes he is ready.

”Hakeem is a good guy,” Barden said. ”He is a friend of mine. You don’t want to see anybody go down. We’re hoping for the best for him. He is expecting to be around. If I was in his head, I would guarantee he’s thinking he’s playing and I hope he does. But at the same time, we have to be prepared for whatever circumstances present themselves and in my mind I’m playing regardless, even if he was healthy, I’m thinking: `I’m the guy.”’

The offensive line could take some of the pressure off the passing game by generating a little rush. New York was limited to 58 yards on Sunday.

Guard David Diehl said Nicks is tough, so he is hoping he plays.

”Like I said, that puts a stress on us to get the run going, but it also allows other guys to make plays down field,” Diehl said. ”Victor Cruz has been playing unbelievably well. (Then, there’s) Mario Manningham. It gets guys in there that we know can step in and do the job.”

Nicks isn’t the only player the Giants have to worry about.

Center David Baas hurt his right knee in the first half. He felt it more on Monday than Sunday.

”They checked it out on the sidelines and stuff like that,” said Baas, who would be replaced by Kevin Boothe. ”If I was stable enough to go back in and play, that’s a positive sign. My hope is very high. We just have to watch it day by day.

”Tomorrow, seeing how it felt from today will be a big factor.”

Baas was to undergo tests on Monday afternoon.

Coughlin said running back Ahmad Bradshaw had a sore foot. He missed some time in the second half while it was X-rayed, but returned and played on the game winning drive.

The most serious injury was a broken right arm suffered by defensive back Justin Tryon, who played the final 2 1/2 quarters with the injury, not telling team trainers about it. He made a tackle on Reggie Bush on a late punt return that pinned the Dolphins at their own 16 and might have hurt his arm even more on the play.

”The thing that I appreciated and I was standing close by, as the doctors were showing him and talking to him about his injury,” Coughlin said. ”He didn’t want to hear about it and all he wanted to know was when he could play again. He said, just put a cast on it and I will play and that was something to hear a kid talk about how badly he wanted to play. It was quite an inspiration for me to listen to that and I wanted you to know about what he did.”

Tryon had surgery Monday and probably will miss the rest of the season, Coughlin said.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP)—The New York Giants may be heading to New
England for their first regular-season game against the Patriots since their
Super Bowl season without their top receiver and one true deep threat.

Hakeem Nicks(notes) tweaked a hamstring on the Giants’ next-to-last series of the
20-17 win over Miami and his status for Sunday’s game is uncertain.

Coach Tom Coughlin described Nicks’ injury as day to day, but hamstring
injuries are troublesome. Cornerback Aaron Ross(notes) was sidelined for most of the
2009 season with a hamstring problem.

Nicks’ injury is a major concern because the Giants have relied on the
passing game much more this season with the running game bogged down. The
third-year pro is tied for 13th in the league with 38 catches, and that’s
despite drawing frequent double coverage.

“He’s a big-play guy and he stretches that field for us and he’s a guy that
can go up and get it at any given time and change the momentum of the game,”
said second-year pro Victor Cruz(notes), who would probably replace Nicks in the
starting lineup if he could not play. “We understand that he’s important to our
team and losing a guy like that, you’re losing a big chunk of your offense.

“Our guys have to step up. We have to get our running game going. Myself
and Mario (Manningham) and Devin Thomas(notes) and Michael Clayton(notes) are going to have to
step in and fill that void.”

Nicks was not in the locker room to discuss his injury, which happened while
running a pattern late. After the game, he said he felt something wrong on the
play and took himself out just to play it smart. He walked off the field with
his hand on his right hamstring.

The team would not say which one he hurt.

Cruz, who caught a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning(notes) with
less than six minutes to play, hopes to see Nicks on the field on Sunday. If
not, he is ready to step in.

“Anytime you get an opportunity to go in there and play and have an
opportunity to be the number one or two guy and make some big plays, you always
want to be excited,” said Cruz, who has 28 catches for 497 yards and four
touchdowns despite his limited playing time. “I understand for us to play at a
top notch, we need all three of us to be out there and to be clicking on all
cylinders.”

Nicks has missed some time in his first two seasons. He sat out two games
with a leg injury and one with a broken toe last year, and two early in his
rookie season with a foot injury.

These Giants have found ways to overcome injuries, though. When Manningham
missed the game against the Eagles, Cruz stepped in and caught three passes for
110 yards and two touchdowns.

New York also has another option if Nicks cannot play.

Ramses Barden(notes), a third-round pick in 2009, has been on the
physically-unable-to-perform list since training camp with an ankle injury. He
started practicing last week, so the Giants have 21 days to decide whether to
activate him or put him on injured reserve.

Barden believes he is ready.

“Hakeem is a good guy,” Barden said. “He is a friend of mine. You don’t
want to see anybody go down. We’re hoping for the best for him. He is expecting
to be around. If I was in his head, I would guarantee he’s thinking he’s playing
and I hope he does. But at the same time, we have to be prepared for whatever
circumstances present themselves and in my mind I’m playing regardless, even if
he was healthy, I’m thinking: `I’m the guy.”’

The offensive line could take some of the pressure off the passing game by
generating a little rush. New York was limited to 58 yards on Sunday.

Guard David Diehl(notes) said Nicks is tough, so he is hoping he plays.

“Like I said, that puts a stress on us to get the run going, but it also
allows other guys to make plays down field,” Diehl said. “Victor Cruz has been
playing unbelievably well. (Then, there’s) Mario Manningham(notes). It gets guys in
there that we know can step in and do the job.”

Nicks isn’t the only player the Giants have to worry about.

Center David Baas(notes) hurt his right knee in the first half. He felt it more on
Monday than Sunday.

“They checked it out on the sidelines and stuff like that,” said Baas, who
would be replaced by Kevin Boothe(notes). “If I was stable enough to go back in and
play, that’s a positive sign. My hope is very high. We just have to watch it day
by day.

“Tomorrow, seeing how it felt from today will be a big factor.”

Baas was to undergo tests on Monday afternoon.

Coughlin said running back Ahmad Bradshaw(notes) had a sore foot. He missed some
time in the second half while it was X-rayed, but returned and played on the
game winning drive.

The most serious injury was a broken right arm suffered by defensive back
Justin Tryon(notes), who played the final 2 1/2 quarters with the injury, not telling team
trainers about it. He made a tackle on Reggie Bush(notes) on a late punt return that
pinned the Dolphins at their own 16 and might have hurt his arm even more on the
play.

“The thing that I appreciated and I was standing close by, as the doctors
were showing him and talking to him about his injury,” Coughlin said. “He
didn’t want to hear about it and all he wanted to know was when he could play
again. He said, just put a cast on it and I will play and that was something to
hear a kid talk about how badly he wanted to play. It was quite an inspiration
for me to listen to that and I wanted you to know about what he did.”

Tryon had surgery Monday and probably will miss the rest of the season,
Coughlin said.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —
The Dolphins always give you a morsel of hope, always give you a reason to believe that this is the day the misery ends.

Then an opponent stomps on that hope, much like Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka crushed Matt Moore on that going-nowhere final drive Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

“If this was a 50-minute game, we would probably be a winning team,” Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake bemoaned.

The Dolphins’ journey to loss after loss has become as predictable as it is demoralizing. Sunday’s 20-17 defeat, which dropped Miami to 0-7, marked the sixth time the Dolphins have blown a lead this season, and the third time they have done it in the game’s final seven minutes. The Dolphins have now lost 10 in a row dating back to last season.

Eli Manning’s 25-yard pass to Victor Cruz put the Giants ahead for the first time with 6:06 left, and New York sacked Matt Moore four times on the Dolphins’ final two possessions, foiling any hope of a Miami rally.

Without a timeout left, the Dolphins saw their final chance evaporate when Moore’s deep pass to Brandon Marshall was intercepted by Corey Webster, on a fourth and 23, with 1:54 left.

“It’s as bad as it can be,” Jason Taylor said. “After seven weeks of doing it over and over and having the same result, your confidence is shaken. It’s natural for doubt to creep in.”

After the game, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross told The Miami Herald that there will be no coaching change this week.

Coach Tony Sparano said the result is “not acceptable” but again defended his players: “That group has a lot of guts and a lot of courage. If my team plays like that, we’re going to win games, OK?”

But as usual, neither his offense nor his defense could make a game-defining play in the final quarter. The defense allowed 10 points in the fourth quarter – including the Cruz touchdown to cap a six-play, 53 yard drive.

The offense had minus six yards in the fourth quarter and just 25 yards in the final 27 minutes.

“This [stinks],” Marshall said. “It’s been the same story all year. We have some good players. Why we can’t put it together, I really don’t know.”

Reggie Bush had his signature game as a Dolphin, rushing 15 times for 103 yards (a 6.9 average). But he gained just 16 yards on seven carries in the final 27 minutes, and three yards on three attempts in the fourth quarter.

“There were plays at the end I could have done better,” he said. “Our playmakers have to step up.”

Early on, Dolphins fans were treated to an offensive eruption, by current Dolphins standards. Miami – which hadn’t scored more than one touchdown in any game since scoring three in the opener against the Patriots – got into the end zone on its first two drives.

Moore looked sharp early, completing his first six passes and rushing three times for 31 yards. His 12-yard pass to Brian Hartline drew a pass interference against Aaron Ross in the end zone, setting up Steve Slaton’s one-yard touchdown to put the Dolphins ahead 7-0.

After a Giants field goal, Moore’s 20-yard pass to Marshall, and a 35-yard run by Bush, set up a fourth and goal from the Giants one. Moore faked left and ran right, fooling the Giants defense and zipped into the end zone for a 14-3 lead.