John Harbaugh Won't Say How Much the Giants Plan to Use Malik Nabers Sunday
Nabers returned to full practice this week without a rep limitation, but Harbaugh has said he won't disclose who plays or how the Giants plan to use him.
The Giants listed Malik Nabers as a full practice participant on their Wednesday injury report, with a knee designation but no limitation on his reps. John Harbaugh still won't say whether Nabers will play Sunday night against Dallas, or how the Giants plan to use him if he does.
Asked directly whether Nabers will be in the lineup for the opener, Harbaugh told reporters, "We'll find out," according to Giants.com's Dan Salomone. Connor Hughes of NJ Advance Media reported Harbaugh called Nabers "ready to go" in the same press conference, without committing to him playing.
Nabers tore his ACL in the Giants' win over the Chargers on Sept. 28, 2025 — Week 4 of last season. He had surgery to repair it on Oct. 28, 2025, a procedure that also included a meniscus repair, according to ESPN. The Giants initially targeted having him ready for training camp this summer. A second surgery followed this offseason — a procedure to remove scar tissue that was causing stiffness in the knee, according to Dan Duggan of The Athletic — pushing his return to Week 1.
Nabers took contact in full pads at Wednesday's practice. Video posted by The Record's Art Stapleton showed Nabers running routes and catching passes during the session.
Harbaugh addressed the lack of public detail directly. Asked about the team's plans for Sunday, he said:
"I'm not going to tell you who is playing in the game. I'm not going to tell you who is starting, what package we have in, what play we're running. I'm not going to tell you any of that. So we can make it great and have a great press conference, or we can make it uncomfortable. I'm not going to tell you because what you know, the Cowboys know, and every other team knows. That's not in the competitive interest of our football team."
The remarks, published by SNY Giants on X, applied to the entire injury report and game plan for the week, not to Nabers alone.
No snap count, target share or route-tree plan for Nabers has been made public.
Before the injury, Nabers was averaging 8.75 targets and 4.5 catches per game through four games last season, with 271 yards and two touchdowns on 18 catches, according to ESPN's game log. That number is the one to check Sunday's box score against. A significant gap between the two would be the clearest sign the Giants limited his workload in the opener rather than played him at full volume.