Giants Gm On Wr Malik Nabers: 'still Think He’ll Be Fine Week 1'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In a recent meeting of the New York Giants' offense, coordinator Matt Nagy posed a quiz of sorts.

Nagy was installing a play for a group of Giants players learning a system. He asked quarterback Jaxson Dart to rattle off a full call without looking at the board.

Then Nagy continued down his list of quarterbacks, asking Jameis Winston to call the play as if it were run from the other hash and thus flipped to the opposite direction. Nagy prompted quarterback Brandon Allen to call the play with still yet a further tweak.

“When I’m doing that, I usually don’t get much eye contact from other people in the room because they don’t want me to call on them,” Nagy told Yahoo Sports during a Monday interview.

But Nagy nonetheless called on receiver Malik Nabers to quiz Nabers as he’d quizzed the quarterbacks.

“On a tough call, and he said the whole formation, motion, shift and play to a T,” Nagy said. “He doesn’t say a whole lot, but he’s listening and he’s taking it all in.

“I see why he’s as good as he is.”

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The Giants do not question whether Nabers is a No. 1 receiver who will elevate their offense. But they do need to determine when they’ll have him available to game plan.

After a Pro Bowl rookie season in 2024, Nabers tore his ACL last September during Dart’s first career start. He underwent cleanup surgery to remove scar tissue in April, per multiple reports.

Nabers is not yet practicing. But his recent participation in a charity dodgeball game showcased a player “moving in the right direction” even as he made his franchise nervous, general manager Joe Schoen said. 

 Schoen is optimistic that Nabers will suit up when the Giants open their season on Sunday Night Football, hosting their division-rival Dallas Cowboys.

“I still think he’ll be fine Week 1,” Schoen told 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.”

One Nabers insurance plan: offensive ‘musical chairs’

The Giants' receiver group has become deeper in recent weeks even as its ceiling, as long as Nabers is sidelined, gives reason for question.

Veteran Darius Slayton, who caught 37 passes for 538 yards and a touchdown last year, returns. He’s joined by free-agent signings in Calvin Austin III, Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darnell Mooney. Austin led that bunch last year with 372 yards and three touchdowns.

The Giants also selected Notre Dame receiver Malachi Fields in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

None compare to the Giants’ envisioned ceiling for Nabers, who broke out as a rookie to the Pro Bowl tune of 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. Nabers had 271 receiving yards and two touchdowns last season in three-and-a-half games.

He’s yet to establish chemistry with Dart, catching just two passes from the 2025 first-round pick before tearing his ACL.

 “Do we have that true No. 1 alpha 22-year-old Malik Nabers out there if he’s not available? No, but I think there’s enough to go,” Schoen said. “There's going to be a good competition at receiver throughout camp, but there's enough for me from the backfield, the tight end position, there's enough at receiver where we'll be able to move the ball and still be a productive offense – and it'll be a cherry on top if Malik's out there.”

The Giants’ tight ends and running backs fuel the optimism.

At tight end, the Giants are returning 2024 fourth-rounder Theo Johnson after he caught 45 passes for 528 yards and five touchdowns, finding rhythm with Dart. Harbaugh also brought tight end Isaiah Likely and fullback Patrick Ricard from Baltimore. And at running back, the Giants posed three threats last season among Tyrone Tracy Jr. (740 yards, two touchdowns), Devin Singletary (437 yards, five touchdowns) and Cam Skattebo (410, 5 touchdowns in just eight games).

The strong run game helped set up Dart’s mobility, a skill set the Giants hope to continue using albeit with more caution. 

The Giants hope that teaching their skill players offensive concepts more broadly will allow for more versatility — including, perhaps, tight ends and running backs stepping up in the run game. Take Tracy’s 48 targets last year, his 288 receiving yards pushing his total yards from scrimmage over 1,000.

“What we’re trying to do is have them learn this offense by what we call just musical chairs, and it’s almost positionless,” Nagy said. “So we might have a tight end that runs a wide receiver route. We might have a halfback that runs a tight end. We're moving these guys around to learn the concept.”

That approach could give the Giants more flexibility on how they scheme players until Nabers returns, whether in training camp or the regular season.

Harbaugh said in early April that Nabers’ timeline was “more into training camp and closer to the season.” Harbaugh also said this week he believes Nabers’ goal is to be the best receiver in the league.

“And he’s capable of doing it,” Harbaugh said.

Those high expectations for Nabers leave the Giants eager to return their No. 1 receiver. But his integral nature to their season plans also dictate a degree of caution ensuring he doesn’t rush back too soon. 

“If he's ready to go Week 1, you told me that today, however it looks in between now and then, I don't care as long as when we roll out against the Cowboys over here that he's out and ready to go,” Schoen said. “And if it's not? Again, I think we bought enough insurance that we'll still be able to move the ball and be productive.”

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