Malik Nabers active for Giants' opener vs. Cowboys, will play for first time in nearly a year after knee injury
Malik Nabers of the Giants warms up before a game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Malik Nabers cleared Malik Nabers to play in Sunday night’s game against the Cowboys, and apparently just in time.
The wide receiver, who said he alone would make the decision on his availability this week, chose participation over hesitation. He had already been given the OK by coaches and the team’s medical staff and was a full participant in practices leading up to the opener, but his uncertainty left him listed as questionable on the final injury report right up until minutes before the inactives for the game were announced at 6:50 p.m.
Nabers had also said previously that he did not want to play in a limited capacity or have a “snap count” on him, so the expectation heading into the game was that he was a full go.
Nabers hadn’t played in a game for the Giants since he tore his ACL on the same field the team played on Sunday night on Sept. 28. He required two surgeries to fully reconstruct the joint.
“My confidence is high, but you have different confidence with a game,” Nabers explained on Thursday. “You can go out and practice and be able to perform, make plays. Plays are designed for you to make. But in the game, you never know what you're going to see. You never know what you're going to get… It's having the confidence and making sure I'm not being rushed, making sure the decision is really mine.”
Nabers arrived at MetLife Stadium around 5:30 p.m., a little less than three hours before the scheduled kickoff. He was dressed in dress shorts with a necktie and a leather jacket and had a big smile on his face. About an hour later, at 6:27 p.m., Nabers walked through the tunnel wearing cleats and a black cutoff hoodie for a stretching routine with a trainer that included a medicine ball and elastic bands. At 6:39 after a conversation with his trainer he flashed a double thumbs-up, received a huge hug from backup quarterback Jameis Winston, dapped up Cam Skaattebo, and joined the other receivers in line to catch warm up passes from starter Jaxson Dart.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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