RB SHANE VEREEN While the Giants see the Jets just once every four years, Shane Vereen knows Gang Green better than anyone on the team from his AFC East days with the Patriots. Vereen saved some of his best performances for the Jets throughout his four years in New England, racking up 356 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in five games. The Patriots won all five outings, and Vereen notched receiving touchdowns from distances of 83 and 49 yards, which are the longest and third-longest of his career. "I don't really sense much of a rivalry, but I do sense this is a humongous game for both teams as far as where we want to get to at the end of the season, as far as our goals for continuing this season and just playing well," Vereen said. "I know, personally, we have a lot of things offensively -- goals -- that we need to get to and start playing better. So I think in that sense, it's a huge game for both teams."

CB DOMINIQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE The Giants' cornerback tandem of Dominique Rodgers Cromartie and Prince Amukamara will be part of a key matchup on Sunday against Jets receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who combine for 1,631 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.  "I'm not going to obviously give away the game plan," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. "But I do think both Prince and DRC are competitive guys and somewhere in the game they're going to find themselves covering a pretty good threat."

WR HAKEEM NICKS Hakeem Nicks, the Giants' 2009 first-round draft pick, made his return to Big Blue last week in Washington. He was targeted two times and caught one pass for four yards. "He came in last week, he was motivated, he's still motivated," McAdoo said. "He's out there working, he's getting some reps again in our stuff and helping out in a bunch of different areas. He's still learning, each week is a new week, each plan is a new plan, and this defense is obviously a lot different than the one we saw last week. He'll be ready to go. We're confident he'll be ready to go."

  WR ODELL BECKHAM JR.   While the Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Darrelle Revis matchup is likely put on hold as the All-Pro cornerback remains in the concussion protocol, the Giants' wide receiver searches for his fifth-straight game with at least 100 receiving yards. He will do so in the comforts of MetLife Stadium, where he has 11 touchdowns and seven 100-yard performances in 11 games.   "Last time I was concerned, it wasn't me versus Revis," Beckham said. "It would have been fun to be able to go against a guy like that. Obviously, you know I have high praise for him. Unfortunate that he's not playing, but down the road, you never know, there may be a matchup there. But right now we're focused on beating the Jets."  

OL JUSTIN PUGH After missing the last two games with a concussion, Justin Pugh looks to bring back some normalcy to an offensive line that needed to shuffle recently. Fellow guard Geoff Schwartz was placed on injured reserve this week with a fractured lower leg, and right tackle Marshall Newhouse has been unable to practice with a back injury. That makes John Jerry and rookie Bobby Hart the next men up while center Weston Richburg has been limited by an ankle injury. Whoever is in there will have a tough test against the Jets' No. 1 rushing defense. "We talk to the players about it all the time: you can only control what you can control," offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said. "We're going to show up and play on Sunday, doesn't matter who has a suit and who doesn't have a suit and we'll go from there. We'll have confidence in the guys that are playing and they're working out there right now, they've been working this week and we'll go with who's playing."