In the Giants' first organized team activities session on Wednesday, Brian Witherspoon tore a knee ligament.

Today, in the second OTA, a much more integral player suffered a significant injury.

Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot while running a route and is expected to miss about 12 weeks, the team announced. Nicks will undergo surgery on Friday to have a screw inserted in the bone. Noted foot and ankle specialist Robert Anderson will perform the procedure in Charlotte, N.C.

The anticipated time frame for Nicks' recovery means he'll be out of action until mid-August, or about half of the preseason.

Nicks, who had a career-high 1,192 receiving yards last season, added a monster postseason (28 catches for 444 yards and four touchdowns) and drew plenty of attention away from Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham, has had issues with his left foot and ankle, including a broken toe that required surgery two years ago. He now will have to rehab an issue on the other foot.

Today's OTA was closed to the media, so it's unclear exactly how Nicks suffered the injury and there were no quotes from him or anyone else in the team's press release.

While not ideal, this injury isn't devastating for the Giants. Nicks has been a reliable route runner for the past few seasons and has developed a solid rapport with Eli Manning, so the extra reps aren't as necessary as they would've been earlier in his career. Sure, the Giants would have loved to have him on the field throughout the rest of the spring program, but if all goes well, Nicks should be fully recovered in time for the season opener on Sept. 5.

Of course, predicting rehabs is an inexact science. Last year, then-rookie Prince Amukamara broke the same bone as Nicks on Aug. 6. He didn't practice fully until almost 15 weeks later.

Nicks has proven his toughness during his first three NFL seasons and has been a quick healer. While the Giants hope that will again be the case here, they'll lean on Domenik Hixon, Ramses Barden, Jerrel Jernigan, rookie second-round pick Rueben Randle and others to pick up the slack in practice.

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The Giants confirmed what they initially feared: Witherspoon did tear his ACL for the second time in as many years. The cornerback/returner was waived with an injury designation. His season is over before it even began.

To fill Witherspoon's roster spot, the team signed veteran CB Dante Hughes, who attended their rookie camp on a tryout basis.

Hughes, 26, was a third-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. He spent the past three seasons with the San Diego Chargers and played in all 16 games last year.

Mike Garafolo: mgarafolo@starledger.com