Credit Tom Coughlin for being consistent.

Last week, the New York Giants coach said he was upset Hakeem Nicks was not present for voluntary OTA’s.

On Thursday, Coughlin repeated himself as the Giants star wide receiver remains absent without an explanation, according to the coach.

“At one point, Hakeem told me that he was going to be here, and then he was not here,” Coughlin said after Thursday’s session, according to Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News. “Now, the strictest interpretation, as everybody knows, is it’s a voluntary program.”

Coughlin used the word “disappointed” when addressing Nicks’ lack of participation.

“It’d be great to have all of our guys working and feeling good about the progress we’re making, and that type of thing,” Coughlin said. “That’s just from a coach’s perspective. You deal with some of this, pretty much on a yearly basis. And it’s a product of our system and that’s the way it is. I can complain all I want, but nevertheless, it is our system.”

Coughlin said he has not spoken to Nicks so he doesn’t know specifically what is going on. From the sounds of things, quarterback Eli Manning is in the dark too.

“I don't know what the exact circumstances are,” Manning said. “It’s a tough situation. You always want everybody there, and you want them back here for practice as soon as possible. I’m not going to say this is not an important time, because I think it is, but it’s kind of a tough situation.”

Nicks’ agent Peter Schaffer has publicly stated Nicks’ absence has nothing to do with the contract status of his client, who is entering the final year of his deal. The Giants have also been working without wide receiver Victor Cruz, who has not signed his tender as a restricted free agent.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune