Malik Nabers Clears PUP Hurdle, But Joe Schoen Stops Short of Week 1 Promise

Malik Nabers will be on the field for camp, but GM Joe Schoen says they'll wait and see how he does before making any promises for Week 1.

New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) runs a route during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center last year. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers has made significant progress in his rehab from a major knee injury last year, significant enough that the Giants decided not to put him on the physically unable to perform list.

But general manager Joe Schoen, who spoke to reporters just before the team was set to take the field at The Greenbrier Sports Performance Center for the first of their 10 practices in West Virginia, stopped short of predicting if Nabers would be ready for the team’s Week 1 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

“We're gonna see,” Schoen said. “This is day one here. We've got a really good plan for him, and we're gonna see how he reacts.”

Nabers, according to Schoen, has not only been running, but he’s also been cutting and doing route work. Schoen added that Nabers would be on the field for the team’s opening training camp practice, though he didn’t go into any specifics as to how much work was planned for the receiver.

Nabers, went through roughly 20 minutes of the first practice, participating in receiver drills and catching passes while running routes on air. He then headed inside the team's facility for the remainder of the session.

Nabers, who tore his ACL in Week 4 of the regular season last year, underwent a cleanup procedure earlier in the spring.

The media did not see him throughout the OTA and spring minicamp practices, but Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh both expressed cautious optimism that Nabers would be ready to go.

The team, however, isn't going to force the issue. Nabers himself told reporters the day after the 2025 season ended that he was going to listen to his body and not rush his recovery.

Understandably so, Nabers has a lot on the line this season. The team will need to decide on whether to exercise the option year on Nabers' rookie deal by the first week in May next year.

If Nabers can regain his pre-injury form, the decision becomes a slam dunk for the team. If he can’t, then that puts both sides in a tough predicament because the Giants will then need to determine if Nabers is worth the gamble even if he doesn’t quite match his rookie year form.

For now, that decision will have to wait as the Giants go through their summer camp, closely observing how Nabers progresses each day.

“So as long as everything goes as planned … hopefully he'll be ready,” Schoen said.

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