Malik Nabers is back on the field without the red jersey, and that is the biggest positive story to come out of Giants camp all summer. The star wideout was cleared for full team drills this week after months of rehab from a knee injury that ended his last season prematurely.
Nabers was seen at practice without the non-contact jersey and was a limited participant in 11-on-11 work. The Giants are not rushing him. He got a controlled number of snaps, was pulled from anything that looked like a real contact rep, and finished the day without any setbacks.
That is exactly how you handle a franchise wide receiver coming off a knee injury.
Nabers is the offense. The Giants’ entire scheme was built around getting him the ball and letting him do damage after the catch. When he went down, the offense collapsed. When he is upright and moving, they can be competitive against anyone.
The medical staff has been methodical about this. Every incremental step has been earned. Nabers did individual drills, then position work, then walkthroughs, then unopposed team reps, then finally live 11-on-11 work with the caveat that no defender is allowed to hit him. That is the modern rehab progression and the Giants have followed it to the letter.
Nabers himself has been vocal about being ready. That is the standard player response and it should be ignored by anyone making medical decisions. Every player says they are ready. The team’s job is to make sure they actually are.
The Giants have a full month before their regular-season opener. That is enough time to add layers to Nabers’ workload in a smart way. Full team reps this week. Contact by the middle of next week. A couple of light preseason snaps to test the knee against real defenders. Then the countdown to Week 1 with the star wideout somewhere between 80 and 90 percent, which is exactly where you want him.
The bigger question is whether the offense is ready for him. Daniel Jones is on the roster. The offensive line is a work in progress. The coaching staff is under pressure to produce results after two lost seasons. Even a healthy Nabers cannot fix all of that.
But he can fix a lot of it. That is what the Giants are betting on and it is what makes this week’s news the most important thing that happened in Giants camp this summer.
Keep him healthy. Everything else follows.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
