The New York Giants saw their 2 top offensive stars go down with injuries in the 1st quarter of a Week 2 Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams — and both in the 1st quarter, as quarterback Jaxson Dart (knee) and wide receiver Malik Nabers (shoulder) were both forced out of the game.
“Giants WR Malik Nabers is hurt in what is quickly turning into a possible nightmare evening for the team,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo wrote on his official X account. “Was reaching around his shoulder area.”
Nabers was quickly ruled questionable to return but came back in the game midway through the 2nd quarter.
He missed the final 13 games of the 2025 regular season with a torn ACL but returned for the Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
“Malik Nabers is back in the game,” The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov wrote on his official X account. There’s some good news.”
Unconventional Approach Shook Off Injury Concerns
Nabers, hesitant to commit to playing in the season opener after reconstructive surgery to fix a torn ACL, didn’t take his first full tackle until pregame against the Cowboys — and left his teammates in shock until they realized who made the tackle — it was Giants head coach John Harbaugh.
Knowing he could finally take a full hit, Nabers played and had 6 receptions for 69 yards on 9 targets in a 28-20 upset win — his 1st game since tearing his ACL in Week 4 of the 2025 regular season.
“We were all just chilling on the sideline, right before we were supposed to start our walkthrough,” Dart said. “Things were just up in the air (with Nabers) so me and Coach Harbaugh had some conversations and (Harbaugh) was like ‘You know, I think just once he gets hit for the 1st time and realizes he’s OK, he’s gonna feel confident.’ So I think in his mind it trigger ‘Oh, maybe I should just tackle him’ so right then and there, all of a sudden, Malik goes down on the ground and our team was all on edge because we’re super protective of Malik … then we realized it was Coach Harbaugh, who popped up and was like ‘See, you’re all good.’
Nabers to Giants: Waiting on Sign From God to Play
With the Giants playing on Sunday Night Football, the day couldn’t have gotten off to a more bizarre star than when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on what Nabers had told Harbaugh and his coaching staff when they asked Nabers if he was going to play that night.
“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.”
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