Malik Nabers has shocked many New York Giants fans in training camp with just how great he looks on the gridiron with his teammates after an offseason shrouded in mystery and doubt about whether he’d be ready for Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football.”
Now, after practicing without a red non-contact jersey Monday, head coach John Harbaugh gave yet another encouraging update on the Giants 2024 first-round pick that points in the right direction for his availability to start the season.
Harbaugh told reporters Monday that it is “reasonable to assume” Nabers is trending toward being available right out the gate for the Giants, which is an incredible sign for the wide receiver who tore his right ACL and had meniscus damage in Week 4 last season.
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“Probably moving the best we’ve seen him look,” Harbaugh said about Nabers, as he wore a regular white jersey alongside his fellow receivers during 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 reps on Monday.
In fact, Harbaugh believes that “very reasonable” contact with defenders during practice is something he’d be fine seeing Nabers go through.
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“Those are all kind of things that you can assume,” Harbaugh said when asked about Nabers in terms of Week 1 availability. “It’s just based on watching the guy practice. The only thing I know more than you guys know is what the docs and the trainers tell me, as far as his rehab. And that’s doing well. He’s doing really well with that. He’s strong. He’s in a good place.”
It wasn’t a fully padded practice for the Giants, but Nabers has been spotted wearing the red non-contact uniform for quite a bit now.
Seeing Nabers not wearing the non-contact jersey, though, is exactly what Harbaugh had planned for the team’s top pass-catching option. He noted not wanting to see Nabers go from no contact to 100% to start the season.
And for Nabers himself, he said last week “my soul has been dead for so long,” hinting at how badly he’s wanted to get back on the field and do what he loves. He also noted the “dog” in him is starting to wake up, and he’s only been trending in an upward trajectory since that first training camp practice surprised fans with just how well he was moving in and out of his routes.
Now, it shouldn’t be expected that Nabers gets time in the Giants’ final preseason game against the New York Jets this week. The teams won’t be holding any joint practices either, so Nabers’ journey to Week 1 availability will have to continue against his teammates.
But the build is there, and the LSU product continues to check boxes in his new head coach’s head.
“I thought he looked good. Look at the tape later, but he was moving well. …It was a good practice for him today,” Harbaugh said.
Nabers and quarterback Jaxson Dart have developed quite the chemistry already, but the Giants’ 2025 draft choice out of Ole Miss only had one quarter with Nabers during his first career start before the devastating knee injury.
Giants fans are itching to see what Dart, who had 24 total touchdowns in 14 games last season, and Nabers, who had 1,204 yards in 15 games his rookie year in 2024, can do across a full 17-game slate.
The Giants will take on the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 13 in a primetime matchup at 8:20 p.m. ET.
