Malik Nabers is listed as questionable for the New York Giants’ season opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, and the decision now sits with him. Teammate Odell Beckham Jr., who has torn an ACL twice, told reporters Friday what that last step actually feels like.
Beckham did not sell a pep talk. He described the part of rehab that does not show up on a practice report. “There’s going to be that bit of fear and anxiety, and it’s a natural thing,” he said, according to the New York Daily News.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan posted the same stretch of remarks Friday evening, calling it an “insightful answer” on the mental hurdle after a major injury
Thought this was an insightful answer from Odell, who has come back from multiple significant injuries on varying timelines, about the final mental hurdle for Malik Nabers: pic.twitter.com/fjWzRMJgmq
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) September 11, 2026
Beckham’s point was blunt. Nabers looks good in practice. That is not the same as trusting the knee when a Cowboys defender closes from the blind side. If something goes wrong again, Beckham said, teams — not the player — start making the next career decision. His advice: come back when he feels it, not when the calendar says Week 1.
Questionable after three full practices is the tell
Nabers practiced in full Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, then still landed on the final injury report as questionable, as Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports both reported. That combination is rare. Full participation all week usually points toward active. A questionable tag after that sequence points toward a player who is not ready to sign off.
Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday at MetLife Stadium on NBC, per the Giants’ official schedule and NFL.com. Inactives for a Sunday night game can wait until 90 minutes before kickoff. Until then, the Giants are planning two versions of the same offense.
The injury itself is not a simple ACL. Nabers tore the ACL and meniscus in his right knee on Sept. 28, 2025, in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers, ESPN and CBS Sports confirmed at the time. He had reconstructive surgery on Oct. 28, then a second cleanup procedure in the spring to remove scar tissue, as detailed by Pat Leonard of the Daily News. That timeline puts Sunday at roughly 11 and a half months after the original tear — inside the window many surgeons treat as possible, not guaranteed.
Nabers has already said the job is his to accept or decline
On Thursday, speaking after practice, Nabers declined to commit. In the team’s official transcript, he said he would “let God tell me” when it is time and confirmed that three full practices still would not force him onto the field. “They’re leaving the decision up on me,” he said, per Giants.com.
He was more direct with beat reporters the same day. “I’ve been wanting to play for so long now, but at the end of the day, I can’t put my career at risk,” Nabers said, as reported by CBS Sports and Pro Football Rumors.
Head coach John Harbaugh had sounded more optimistic Wednesday, saying he thought Nabers was “ready to go” if the receiver felt the same, according to The Athletic. By Friday, Harbaugh steered every status question back to the injury report. That shift matches what Nabers described: the medical staff can clear a knee. Only the player can decide whether he trusts it in a live game.
Leonard noted a small, telling scene before Friday’s session. Nabers dropped to one knee and prayed, then stood at the glass of the team facility and watched himself while special teams worked, per the Daily News. That is the part Beckham was talking about. Practice speed is one thing. Game speed is the late hit after the whistle, the planted foot on someone else’s shoe, the moment you cannot protect the joint.
What the Giants lose if he sits
Nabers is not a complementary piece. He is the offense’s first read. A year ago he posted 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie, then added 18 catches for 271 yards and two scores in four games in 2025 before the knee gave out, per NFL.com career stats.
| Season | Games | Rec | Yards | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 15 | 109 | 1,204 | 7 |
| 2025 | 4 | 18 | 271 | 2 |
| Career | 19 | 127 | 1,475 | 9 |
If he is inactive, the Giants go into a prime-time NFC East game with four receivers on the 53: Darnell Mooney, rookie Malachi Fields, Beckham and, if elevated, practice-squad option Braxton Berrios. New York released Darius Slayton this week, leaving no extra veteran on the active roster, as Athlon Sports and Giants Wire reported. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said he has confidence in that group. Confidence and a full route tree for Jaxson Dart are not the same thing.
Beckham’s value in that scenario is the reason he made the roster. He is 33. He has not played a regular-season snap since 2024. He also knows the exact fear Nabers is sitting with, after left-knee ACL tears in 2020 and again in Super Bowl LVI, a history recapped by The Athletic. That is why his counsel landed. He is not asking Nabers to be brave for the crowd. He is telling him the first hit of 2026 does not have to come Sunday if the knee is still negotiating.
Nabers has said he will not feel like himself until the early or middle of the season. Beckham said the same thing almost word for word. That is analysis rooted in how ACL returns actually work, not a teaser. The Giants host a rivalry game on national television. They can live without their best receiver for one night. They cannot live with him guessing on the first cut.
