Anthony Rivardo
Malik Nabers is expected to begin training camp on the physically unable to perform list, a designation that hangs over everything else the Giants will do at The Greenbrier this summer. Veterans report to West Virginia on July 28, and the team’s best offensive player is not likely to be a full participant when they do.
The Giants landed a WR1 sixth overall in the 2024 draft, and 18 months later they are still waiting to see the version of him that broke records as a rookie. Nabers’s knee is among the franchise’s most sensitive variables heading into John Harbaugh’s first camp.
The Injury That Reset The Timeline
Nabers tore the ACL in his right knee in a Week 4 win over the Chargers, ending a 2025 season that had barely started. An MRI confirmed the season-ending tear the following day. Through four games, he had already piled up 18 receptions for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 35 targets, a per-game workload that put him on a 1,100-yard pace before the injury.
Nabers underwent a second procedure this spring, a “cleanup” to remove scar tissue that was causing stiffness in the joint, per NFL.com. Not only did Nabers tear his ACL, but he had also suffered a full lateral meniscus tear, which required a full repair rather than a simple trim.
That second surgery, not the original reconstruction, is the reason the PUP list seems like a likelihood. A clean rehab off a single repair would have him ramping up by now; the added procedure pushed the runway deeper into the summer. The recovery has not been linear.
What Harbaugh Has Said About the Injury
Harbaugh told reporters the injury was “not a simple knee,” as Nabers did not participate in the team’s spring practices. He added that the receiver was “doing his job to return as soon as possible,” a line that acknowledges the effort without committing to a date.
The realistic path has Nabers opening camp on PUP, passing a physical later in the summer, and ramping toward a possible Week 1 return rather than a certain one. The tone from the head coach has been measured rather than optimistic.
A player who opens training camp on PUP can be activated at any point during camp, but if he is still on the list at final cuts, he must miss at least the first four regular-season games. That is the scenario Giants fans should track: not whether Nabers practices in early August, but whether he is off PUP before the roster locks.
What The Giants Have Behind Him
The receiver room was rebuilt on the assumption that Nabers would carry it. When he cannot, the depth chart looks thinner than the target share suggests.
| Season | Receptions | Yards | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (rookie) | 109 | 1,204 | 7 |
| 2025 (4 games) | 18 | 271 | 2 |
Those 2024 numbers set the franchise single-season receptions record and the NFL rookie receptions record. Replacing that volume in-house is not realistic. Darius Slayton returns as the steadiest outside option, Darnell Mooney was signed to take over the slot snaps vacated when Wan’Dale Robinson left for the Titans, and Calvin Austin III adds vertical speed. Third-round pick Malachi Fields projects as the No. 3, with Isaiah Hodgins, Odell Beckham Jr. and JuJu Smith-Schuster competing on minimum deals for the back end.
That group can carry an offense for stretches of a season, but it is not built to headline one. Jaxson Dart spent his rookie year throwing to Nabers before the injury, and the second-year quarterback’s development case gets materially harder if his top target is watching the opener in street clothes.
The Stakes Ride On His Knee
The Giants can survive a slow ramp, but they cannot survive losing the player who set the franchise’s single-season receptions record as a rookie. Nabers on PUP is not a crisis in July; Nabers still on PUP in early September would be. Everything about the offense’s ceiling routes through that right knee, and the Giants will spend camp watching it more closely than any position battle on the roster.
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