The biggest question hanging over the New York Giants right now is whether or not Malik Nabers will be suiting up for Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Big Blue’s star wide receiver has been recovering from a serious knee surgery all offseason long and has slowly ramped up in hopes of being ready for the regular season.
It remains unclear if Nabers will suit up for Sunday night football, and he wouldn’t confirm to reporters whether or not he’ll be active.
“Malik Nabers says, when it comes to his decision on to play or not, everyone needs to realize ‘It’s my career,'” reported SNY’s Connor Hughes from Giants practice on Thursday.
Some Giants fans didn’t like that response from Nabers and voiced their displeasure. But a fellow NFL superstar came to the defense of the Giants star.
Micah Parsons Defends Malik Nabers After Injury Comments
Responding to the post from Hughes on X, current Green Bay Packers and ex-New York Giants villain Micah Parsons questioned why fans had a problem with Nabers’ comments.
“I’m confused on what’s wrong with this statement?” Parsons wrote out to the masses.
If anybody knows what Nabers is going through right now, it’s Parsons. The Packers star is currently recovering from his own ACL injury, suffered nearly three months after Nabers did in late September.
In Parsons’ case, he’s already been ruled out for the first four games of the season, at minimum. He’s currently on the Physically Unable to Perform list.
Professional athletes should certainly be taking care of their bodies first and foremost. Their health is their livelihood, and if they feel there’s a certain risk they’re taking by stepping on the field when they’re not physically ready, they absolutely shouldn’t.
Nabers has been back at practice in recent weeks and even took off the red non-contact practice jersey, a positive development.
But if that surgically repaired knee doesn’t feel right, why take the risk? Even the Giants should have Nabers’ best interests in mind. They should want him to be healthy for the long haul and develop into the franchise cornerstone that fans believe him to be.
Malik Nabers’ Full Comments on Injury
While Hughes provided a partial answer from Nabers, he didn’t provide the full context of the quote from the New York Giants wide receiver, and it left out some pivotal context.
Nabers was specifically asked if he would play in the season opener if the team asked him if he would be on a pitch count, and his response was much more reasonable than Hughes initially indicated.
“Yeah, like I say, if that’s the case, then they’re not letting the decision be on me. And I will come to them and tell them, I wanna be on the pitch count,” Nabers responded.
“And I wouldn’t want anyone to tell me, I’m gonna be on the pitch count, cuz at the end of the day, it’s my career and it’s my body. So if a pitch count is in the conversation, then I will lead that conversation; that decision would be on me.”
It sounds like, from Nabers’ comments, the Giants are only comfortable pushing Nabers as far as he wants to push himself.
If the 23-year-old wants to play, he’ll play. If that knee isn’t ready yet, Nabers will make the decision to push his debut off just a little bit longer.
Micah Parsons Defends Giants’ Malik Nabers After Mixed Message