John Harbaugh: Malik Nabers is fighting like crazy to be out there

Player mentions

Article text

Malik Nabers’ second season came to a premature end when he suffered a torn ACL in Week 4 of last year. While there is a chance Nabers is ready for Week 1 in September, right now the Giants wide receiver is in the dog days of his recovery process. “ He’s in the middle of [his rehab] ,” Giants head coach John Harbaugh said on Thursday, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN. “It’s a hard thing. It’s an ACL whatever else he had in the knee. Not a simple knee [injury]. So, he’s in the slog of it, the grind of it, I would say. So, he’s fighting through it. He’s here every day. “Just impossible to predict [when he’ll be ready]. I mean, the goal is to start the season and for him to get out there sometime in training camp — that’d be the goal. And then, we’ll see what happens. If he’s out there, great. If he’s not out there, great. We’ll be ready to go either way. But, I know he’s fighting like crazy to do his best to be out there. And he’s with the guys every day.” With this being Nabers’ first significant injury at the pro level, Harbaugh noted the Giants are doing their best to keep the young receiver engaged during the offseason program. “[M]y experience with guys, the first time you have a serious injury, it’s tough because it’s new for him,” Harbaugh said. "It’s a tough process. Our job is to stay close to him, to stay with him, and his job is to trust, work hard. He’s doing his job and the trainers and docs are doing their job. And he’ll be back.” The No. 6 pick of the 2024 draft, Nabers caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards with seven touchdowns as a rookie. He had 18 catches for 271 yards and two touchdowns in his limited action in 2025.