Giants Notes: Malik Nabers Trending In Right Direction For Week 1 Vs. Cowboys; Reason For Darius Slayton's Release

Giants head coach John Harbaugh spoke with reporters Wednesday ahead of their Week 1 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys; here are the main takeaways...

Malik Nabers' status

While Harbaugh made it very clear that he won't be telling anyone who is playing or who is starting prior to a game, he was optimistic about his star wide receiver's status.

The head coach said Nabers practiced in full pads Wednesday, which is a positive sign as he looks to return from his season-ending ACL injury suffered in Week 4 last season.

"I think he's ready to go," Harbaugh said. "We'll see. It's still four days until we play. If he's ready to go and he feels like he's ready to go, then he'll play. If he's not and he's not ready, then he won't play."

Nabers did not play in the team's three preseason games as the team has been cautious with his rehab.

In just four games last year, Nabers made 18 receptions for 271 yards with two touchdowns (both against the Cowboys). However, only two of those catches were from Jaxson Dart, as his injury came during the QB's first start. The two have the potential to form a special bond on the field and fans will hopefully get to see it in action on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.

Why Big Blue let go of Darius Slayton

After making the initial 53-man roster, the Giants released veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton on Monday.

With the move coming as a bit of a surprise since it was so close to their first game of the season, Harbaugh was questioned about why they released Slayton when they did.

"We always make all of our personnel decisions about what's best for the team immediately and in the long-term future. What gives us the best chance to be the best team we can be. And that's the choice that we made," Harbaugh said.

He added on the timing: "No strategy to it. There's a lot of factors. Maybe you can get a trade. Maybe you try to wait as long as you can to see if you can work out a contract change. There's a lot of reasons to it, which I really don't feel obligated to explain, but I appreciate the questions... We did it because it's the best thing for our team and that's what we're doing going forward."

Slayton spent all seven years of his career with New York and had four seasons of 700-plus yards, including 500-plus yards in all but one season. Those numbers were mentioned to Harbaugh as to why the move came as a surprise, to which he explained that it was a move in the best interest of the team.

"I watch practice every day and I see the team that we're building going forward," Harbaugh said. "Looking back on past stats is not the metric that we're using. We're looking at what we're going to be going forward and the type of team we want to build.

"Darius has been great. He's a great guy, he worked hard. He worked extremely hard to get himself back from the injury. I don't think he even feels like he's fully back yet, probably, but he will be at some point in time. And where we're standing right now, it's not the best thing for us, maybe or the best thing for him, I don't know, we'll see how it goes. He's going to be fine. He's going to land somewhere, he's going to play football somewhere and we're going to move forward. That's how football goes, nothing lasts forever."

Harbaugh wouldn't get into the specifics of whether the team asked Slayton to take a pay cut or not, as he was due $13 million this year after signing a three-year, $36 million deal before last season. The move created $3 million in cap space for New York this season.