New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen said Monday he believes wide receiver Malik Nabers will be ready for the team's season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
"I still think he'll be fine Week 1," Schoen told Yahoo Sports. "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."
The Giants open their season on Sunday Night Football, hosting Dallas in a division matchup. Nabers has not yet returned to practice after tearing his right ACL last September during quarterback Jaxson Dart's first career start. He underwent cleanup surgery to remove scar tissue in April.
Nabers made his presence felt in a different way recently, participating in a charity dodgeball game. Schoen described him as moving in the right direction, though he acknowledged the appearance made the franchise nervous.
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy offered a different kind of evidence that Nabers is engaged and sharp. During a recent team meeting, Nagy was quizzing quarterbacks on play calls, asking Dart to recite a full call from memory, then asking Jameis Winston to flip it to the opposite hash, then prompting Brandon Allen to call it with another variation.
"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.
Nagy called on Nabers anyway, giving him a difficult question.
"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."
Nabers had a standout rookie season in 2024, finishing with 1,204 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on his way to a Pro Bowl selection. He added 271 yards and two touchdowns in three and a half games last year before the ACL injury cut his season short.
The Giants have built depth at receiver while waiting for Nabers to return. Veteran Darius Slayton, who caught 37 passes for 538 yards and a touchdown last season, is back. Free-agent additions include Calvin Austin III, Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darnell Mooney. Austin led that group last year with 372 yards and three touchdowns. New York also selected Notre Dame receiver Malachi Fields in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
None of those additions are expected to match what the Giants believe Nabers can provide when healthy. The team's ceiling on offense is closely tied to getting him back on the field. The season opener against Dallas is scheduled for Sunday Night Football.
