Giants Vs. Patriots, What To Watch

Starters won't play much in the New York Giants final preseason game of 2012, which is Wednesday night at MetLife Stadium against the New England Patriots (7 p.m. ET, NFL Network). That, however, does not mean there won't intriguing things to watch during the evening (if you are lucky enough to have NFLN, that is).

Here is a look at some of the things worth paying attention to.

- Hakeem Nicks: The star wide receiver is scheduled for his first and only action of the preseason on Wednesday night as he continues to make progress in his recovery from a broken foot. I don't care at all about production. I just want to see him on the field, see that he is running well and -- should he take a hit or two -- see that he gets back up.

- The wide receiver competition: Forget who will be the third receiver. Wednesday night is really about which guys make the roster. Ramses Barden, Jerrel Jernigan, David Douglas and probably Domenik Hixon could all be considered on the bubble. Will the Giants keep seven receivers? Probably not. If they only keep six, which one of those four goes? Wednesday night is the final chance for these guys to make an impression.

- Defensive tackle: With Chris Canty on PUP, Shaun Rogers probably headed to IR and Marvin Austin dealing with a back injury, who can step up? Markus Kuhn? Dwayne Hendricks? Marcus Thomas? Who can the Giants rely on to back up Linval Joseph and Rocky Bernard?

- Running back: Ahmad Bradshaw, David Wilson and Henry Hynoski are safe. After that, anything goes. So, DJ Ware, Andre Brown and Da'Rel Scott will be trying to leave a positive impression.

- Punt return: To me, that job is still up for grabs. So, watch who returns and how well they do it.