Nabers Calls Himself 'Rusty' in ACL-Return Game, Says He Left Two Scoring Chances on the Field
Nabers said the slipping that made him feel rusty wasn't from cutting on his surgically repaired leg. He caught six passes for 69 yards on 36 snaps in the Giants' 28-20 win over Dallas, his first game since tearing his ACL last September.
Malik Nabers called himself "rusty" in his first game back from a torn ACL and said he left yards — and, by his own estimate, probably two scoring chances — on the field in the Giants' 28-20 win over the Cowboys.
Asked Sept. 17 how close he felt to his pre-injury form, Nabers said: "I'm rusty. I'm rusty, but –" Asked what told him that, he said: "Slipping, falling, pretty much it," according to a giants.com transcript of the news conference.
Told he'd looked angry after not cutting around a defender on one play, Nabers said he needed to "get back into more of the football mentality of getting north" and reading the defense. "I left some yards out there, I left some plays out there," he said. "I feel like I could've scored on probably two of them if I just run straight, get more yards." He called it "the most frustrating thing" about the game.
Asked whether the slipping was tied to cutting on his surgically repaired leg, Nabers said: "Something else, I was just slipping."
Nabers tore his ACL on Sept. 28, 2025, and did not commit to playing in the opener until after a pregame workout, GiantsGator has reported. He played 36 of the Giants' 69 offensive snaps and caught six passes for 69 yards on nine targets in the Sept. 13 win.
The Giants play at the Rams on Monday night.