The New York Giants have a superstar wide receiver — they hope — in Malik Nabers.
They also have the accompanying headaches that come with a player at that position and of that caliber.
That can lead to situations like Wednesday, when Nabers’ injury status seemed to confuse both the media and the team itself — all the way up to head coach John Harbaugh.
“WR Malik Nabers went and sat in the rehab section during individual drills and had a conversation with head trainer Adam Bennett,” The Athletic’s Dan Duggan wrote on his official X account on Wednesday. “Nabers eventually stood up and repeatedly raised and planted his right foot into the ground. He put his helmet back on as our viewing period ended, so we’ll find out later how much he participated.”
A few hours later, Nabers told Duggan he was “sore” and did as much as he could during practice.
John Harbaugh’s Frosty Response to Question
No one seemed more confused about Nabers’ status than Harbaugh, who has led the Giants to a 3-1 start and has his team alone in 1st place in the NFC East for the first time since 2015.
When asked about Nabers, along with a follow-up question about whether he practiced, Harbaugh’s response vacillated between cagey and downright frosty.
When asked how Nabers was doing because he was sitting to the side for parts of practice: “How’s he doing? Great spirits. Great work day today,” Harbaugh said.
When asked if Nabers was able to practice, Harbaugh made a point of looking at his watch: “The injury report is coming out … in 40 minutes,” Harbaugh said.
When told Nabers had told the media he was more sore Wednesday than usual and had tried to do what he could at practice: “I’ll take him at his word, then,” Harbaugh said.
The final injury report for Wednesday officially listed Nabers as DNP with a knee injury.
Nabers Coming Off Breakout Game in Week 4
Nabers, the Giants‘ 2024 1st-round pick, looked like one of the NFL’s best wide receivers as a rookie but missed the final 13 games of the 2025 regular season with a torn ACL.
His return has been fraught from the start — most notably when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported ahead of the Week 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys that Nabers was taking an unconventional approach to determining his playing status.
“The big injury question centers around Malik Nabers, who’s status for tonight’s game remains murky at best,” Schefter said during a television appearance Sunday morning. “Giants elevated 2 wide receivers to the 53-man roster on Saturday but have not gotten clarity from Nabers, who has said he is leaving whether or not he plays to God, and he wants God to guide him if he will go tonight against the Cowboys.”
Harbaugh told God to hold his beer and got Nabers to play by tackling him during pre-game drills — going off the hunch Nabers was scared to take a hit on his surgically-repaired knee.
The move seemed to snap Nabers out of whatever mode he was in, he played and had 6 receptions for 69 yards in an upset win by the Giants.
Giants Get Confusing Injury News on WR Malik Nabers