Malik Nabers didn’t just return to the Giants on Sunday night - he looked like himself again.
After spending more than 10 months working back from a torn ACL and meniscus, Nabers finally made it onto the field in New York’s 28-20 win over the Cowboys, and he made the most of the moment. The wide receiver finished with six catches for 69 yards, good for second among all players in the game, and gave the Giants the kind of lift they were hoping to see after such a long rehab.
The decision to play didn’t come until late. Nabers said his family didn’t even attend because his status was still so uncertain before kickoff. It wasn’t until his pregame warm-up at MetLife Stadium that he felt ready to go.
“When I got out there, I just felt good,” Nabers said afterward. “I felt good. I got a little chill through my body and I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s time.’”
That was the green light for a player the Giants had been carefully bringing along all offseason. Nabers had surgery after the injury, then needed a second procedure in the spring to clear out scar tissue. He was medically cleared for Week 1, but the team left the final call to the 23-year-old receiver so he could get past whatever hesitation remained.
“He had to feel right,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “He had to feel like he was ready to go and he could protect himself and perform the way he wanted, and he did.
Malik played a great game. He played a heck of a game.”
For the Giants, the encouraging part wasn’t just that Nabers was out there - it was how he looked while doing it. He played 36 of the team’s 68 offensive snaps, ran routes on 24 of them and led the Giants with nine targets. Quarterback Jaxson Dart didn’t sound surprised by any of it.
“No matter what the coverage is, no matter who they put out there on him, you have all the confidence in the world that he’s going to make a play,” Dart said.
“Once he was able to feel those lights and feel the game-day environment, maybe he had a little bit of adrenaline, and then he’s just a guy who wants to play for this team, loves the game. I’m so happy that he was able to come back and have a game like this.”
Harbaugh also said that during the team’s walkthrough Sunday, he tackled Nabers to show the receiver he was ready to absorb contact. Nabers said after the game that he felt good, but he also made clear the comeback is still in motion.
“We’ll see how the adrenaline wears off, see where we’re at. I’ll get back to the treatment, get back to still moving forward.
The recovery process is not done. Still got to do great work, still got to prepare for next week, prepare for practice, so we’ll see how we feel.”
Nabers wasn’t the only Giants player to make a strong return from a major injury. Cam Skattebo also delivered in a big way, rushing for 81 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries in his first regular-season action since suffering an open tibia fracture and a dislocated right ankle last Oct. 28.
Skattebo’s style showed up immediately. He ran with the kind of force that can wear down a defense, and he helped close the game out with 13- and eight-yard runs on the Giants’ final drive as they drained the last 5:21 off the clock.
The second-year back had been ahead of Nabers in the recovery process all offseason, but there was still plenty of curiosity about what he’d look like after the injury. Last year, he totaled seven touchdowns in eight games, and Sunday brought another reminder of how much he can change a game when he’s rolling.
There was even a little extra flair after Skattebo’s first-quarter touchdown. After a summer moment at Fanatics Fest in July when he failed to land a backflip on stage, he punctuated the score Sunday with a cleaner one.
“I feel like myself again,” Skattebo said afterward. “The guys, the training staff, the coaches, they’ve understood where I’ve been at.
They understand who I am. They take my words for what they take them for, and they trust who I am.
If I’m sore one day, they cut me [some] slack, so I appreciate them. I’m going to continue to kick a- and work my a- off.”
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