Malik Nabers Trending Toward Playing Against Cowboys In Week 1

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Malik Nabers looks likely to play for the New York Giants against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported this week. Nabers tore the ACL and meniscus in his right knee last September.

During the early and middle parts of the offseason, there was a lot of pessimism about his availability because he seemed to be struggling in his recovery, Graziano wrote. Giants coaches and trainers were pleasantly surprised when he reported to training camp in late July, since his recovery had made significant progress after June minicamp.

He did not have to start camp on the physically unable to perform list. Nabers practiced through training camp but sat out the preseason. He has also been out of the noncontact practice jersey for a while, according to Graziano.

Giants coach John Harbaugh stopped short Wednesday of confirming Nabers for the opener.

“I think he’s ready to go,” Harbaugh said. “If he’s ready to go and he feels like he’s ready to go, then he’ll play.”

Nabers was hurt Sept. 28 on his 25th snap of a Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He later had a second procedure to remove scar tissue that had caused stiffness in the knee.

Before the injury, Nabers played four games in 2025 and caught 18 passes for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both touchdowns came against Dallas in Week 2, when he caught 9 passes for 167 yards in a 40-37 overtime loss at AT&T Stadium.

The Giants took Nabers sixth overall in 2024. As a rookie he caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards and 7 touchdowns. His 127 catches through his first 19 NFL games are the second most over that span in league history, behind the 133 of Odell Beckham Jr.

Nabers has kept the specific checkpoints left in his recovery in-house.

“My mind is focused on playing the regular season, playing whenever that is and playing what team it is,” Nabers said after practice Aug. 31. “I’m gonna be making sure that I’m ready to go out there and I’m healthy enough to play all four quarters; that nobody’s gotta make sure I’m not in on every play or they have to make sure I got enough snaps to play or my snaps are limited.”

New York went 4-13 in 2025. The Giants hired Harbaugh in January after he spent 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Jaxson Dart enters his second season as the starter.

As a rookie, Dart threw for 2,272 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in 14 games. He ran for 487 yards and 9 touchdowns.

As a rookie against Dallas in 2024, Nabers caught 12 passes for 115 yards before leaving with a concussion.

The teams split two meetings last season, with the Giants winning 34-17 at MetLife Stadium in the Jan. 4 finale.

Dallas will be without left guard Tyler Smith, who went on injured reserve Wednesday after thumb surgery. T.J. Bass starts in his place.

Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is 7:20 p.m. CT Sunday on NBC.