Giants No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers remains in recovery from the torn ACL and meniscus he suffered last September. It has been a difficult rehab for Nabers, who required a second surgery – a cleanup procedure – in mid-April. While Nabers is still sidelined, Giants bigwigs are optimistic he will be ready when they open their season against the Cowboys on Sept. 13.
“I still think he’ll be fine Week 1,” general manager Joe Schoen told Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports on Monday. “So we’ll see. He’s trending in the right direction. Again, these things take time, so it’s not instant. Every patient is different.”
Head coach John Harbaugh took a similarly positive tone Wednesday, saying (via Dan Duggan of The Athletic) that Nabers is making “really good progress.” Harbaugh added he is “very hopeful that he’ll be back soon.” In Harbaugh’s estimation, Nabers is 70 to 80 percent through his rehab.
Nabers’ absence is the most glaring in the Giants’ receiving corps, but he isn’t their only wideout on the shelf. Darius Slayton is on the mend from core-muscle surgery, and the team saw Gunner Olszewski go down with a season-ending Achilles tear during practice on May 29. Scrambling for healthy bodies, the Giants reunited with Odell Beckham Jr. and also brought in JuJu Smith-Schuster and Braxton Berrios during a June 1 shopping spree. Those modest signings came a few months after the Giants added Calvin Austin and Darnell Mooney on the open market. They also traded up 31 picks to draft Malachi Fields in the third round (No. 74 overall).
Schoen admitted to Epstein that the Giants’ new-look WR group does not have a “true No. 1 alpha” with Nabers out, but he believes “there’s enough to go.” It is clear, however, that Nabers is the best player of the bunch. After going sixth overall in the 2024 draft, Nabers dazzled during a Pro Bowl rookie year in which he caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Last season’s injury, which he incurred in quarterback Jaxson Dart‘s first career start, limited him to four games. Nabers will be a little under a year removed from it when Week 1 arrives, and the Giants are hopeful he will be on the field for the first meaningful game of the Harbaugh era.