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Giants rookie WRs Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden hope to avoid injury

The excitement over the offensive weapons the Giants added last weekend didn't quite filter down to Eli Manning. It's not that the Giants quarterback doesn't like his new targets. It's just that he's been down this rookie receiver road before.

"After being here five years and seeing how rookies come in, it is a learning curve," Manning said Tuesday. "It is a process. So we'll try to get them as much as they can and see what they can do and how they can help us next year."

Just how much they can help remains to be seen, but Manning didn't sound like he was expecting Hakeem Nicks (first round) or Ramses Barden (third) to step in and make the quarterback immediately forget about Plaxico Burress. In Manning's five seasons with the Giants, rookie receivers have often been more hype than substance. And they've seemed to get injured almost always before the regular season begins.

Steve Smith, a second-round pick in 2007, ended up missing most of his rookie year before becoming a factor in the playoffs. It happened to Sinorice Moss (second round, 2006), too, and he still hasn't recovered. And it happened last year to Mario Manningham (third round), who ended up hardly playing at all.

"Guys have been getting injured in training camp, and if you miss time as a rookie it's just hard to catch back up," Manning said. "You've got to keep going, and often they fall behind, and then you're into the season. So we've just got to get them in and see how quickly they can learn everything. That's what it's going to come down to. A lot is thrown at them. It is a learning curve. They're going to make mistakes. But if they're getting in there, getting reps and staying healthy, they'll learn a lot faster."

Meanwhile, Manning said he's "confident" in his veteran receivers, including Smith, Domenik Hixon and even the now-healthy David Tyree. And that trio didn't seem bothered at all that they were getting some competition.

"We have a good corps of guys and players on this team that can go out and compete every day and play well for us," Manning said. "Looking at the receivers we have right now, I'm very confident with the guys that we can go out there and play at a high level."

"It's all about competition and we've got a lot of at this position," added Tyree. "If you're not hungry enough - especially with the way things have shaken out at our position with last year's starters being gone - to just come in and compete and give it your all, then you don't have the right mind-set."