Harbaugh: Nabers’ knee injury ‘not simple,’ clouding return date

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants don’t know when star wide receiver Malik Nabers will be back from what coach John Harbaugh said Thursday was “not a simple knee” injury.

Nabers tore the ACL in his right knee in September. He underwent the original surgery, which included a full meniscus repair, several weeks later. A second surgery was required recently to remove scar tissue that was causing stiffness.

It has the Giants hopeful but uncertain if he will return for Week 1. They open their season in a “Sunday Night Football” game Sept. 13 against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.

“He’s in the middle of it. It’s such a hard thing. It’s an ACL, and whatever else he had in that knee,” coach John Harbaugh said after his team’s third organized team activity practice. “Not a simple knee [injury], you know? So, um, he’s in the slog of it, the grind of it, I would say. So, he’s fighting through it, and he’s here every day working hard at it.

“Just impossible to predict. I mean, the goal is to start the season and get out there sometime in training camp. That’d be the goal, and we’ll see what happens.”

Much like most of the Giants’ injured players, Nabers wasn’t out at Thursday’s practice. He has, however, been in the building rehabbing the knee this week.

Harbaugh and the Giants have been less optimistic about Nabers’ return in recent months. Originally, they thought he might be ready for the start of training camp. Now, that ship seems to have sailed. They seem to have their fingers crossed about Week 1.

“If he’s out there, great. [If] he’s not out there, great. You know, we’ll be ready to go either way,” Harbaugh said. “But I know he’s fighting like crazy to do his best to be out there, and he’s with the guys every day.”

Nabers, 22, is expected to be the Giants’ No. 1 receiver and the top option for quarterback Jaxson Dart, who is without two of his top targets this spring. Darius Slayton is also sidelined following core muscle surgery. Harbaugh said Thursday that the expectation is Slayton will be ready by the start of training camp.

The Giants had a bunch of receivers rotate in with the first team at OTAs. Among them were the recently signed Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III and third-round pick Malachi Fields.

But none is the equal of Nabers, who had a record-breaking rookie season in 2024 after being selected with the sixth pick out of LSU. He caught a franchise-record 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns.

Nabers played in just four games this past season. He has had to deal with the mental part of his rehab and recovery not going exactly as planned.

“I can’t speak for him, but I think it’s probably the first time he’s been hurt like this, you know?” Harbaugh said. “And my experience with guys is the first time they have a serious injury, you know, it’s tough. Tough because … it’s new for him. It’s a tough process, so our job is to stay close to him and stay with him, and his job is to, you know, trust and work hard. And he’s doing his job, and trainers and docs are doing their job. He will be back.”