The New York Giants are aiming for a successful 2026 season under the guidance of new coach John Harbaugh, hired during the offseason. However, as the season approaches, one of their key players may not be ready to start.
Wide receiver Malik Nabers sustained an ACL injury in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers in September. After undergoing surgery and missing the rest of last season, Nabers was anticipated to be ready for the Giants’ opening game in 2026.
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Nevertheless, NFL insider Adam Schefter expressed doubts about Nabers’ availability for Week 1 during his Thursday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
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“I just don’t like the way that any of this sounds,” Schefter said. “There’s a second knee surgery. There’s some scar tissue and stiffness that they need to address. It’s a complicated procedure. They don’t know if he’ll be ready for Opening Day.
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“It certainly sounds like, at the very least, Opening Night against the Dallas Cowboys at home is in jeopardy. And it almost feels like, at this point in time, that it would be more unlikely that he would play in that game than it is likely that he would play in that game.”
Nabers was picked sixth in the 2024 NFL draft and had a standout rookie year with 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Before his injury last season, he recorded 18 receptions for 271 yards and two touchdowns in four games.
Giants coach John Harbaugh shares potential return timeline for Malik Nabers
Despite his injury last season, Malik Nabers is expected to be a significant part of the Giants’ revamped offense under John Harbaugh. The newly appointed Giants coach discussed Nabers’ recovery on Thursday.
“He’s in the middle of it,” Harbaugh said on Thursday. “It’s such a hard thing. It’s an ACL, and whatever else he had in that knee [. . .] It’s not a simple knee [injury]. He’s in the slog of it, the grind of it, I would say. He’s fighting through it and he’s here every day working hard at it.”
Although Harbaugh didn’t provide a specific timeline for Nabers’ return, he anticipates that the player will rejoin the team “sometime in training camp.”
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash
