WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Malik Nabers caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in a rookie season that completely validated his lofty NFL draft status (sixth overall) and convinced the Giants and their fans he would quickly become one of the league’s best wide receivers.
Nowadays, coming off ACL surgery that limited him to four games in 2025, the Giants and their fans are eager for Nabers to get back to his first-year form.
Nabers is thinking way, way beyond that.
“I’ve got extreme confidence in myself, and I’m not going to put myself in any spot that I feel like I’m not going to be better than what I was before,’’ Nabers said Thursday after Day 2 of Giants training camp at The Greenbrier’s Sports Performance Center. “I don’t see myself being what I was before. What I was before, what y’all saw my rookie year, I feel like that was basic.
“I got higher standards for myself, and I know everybody has high standards for me, also. But the standard that I hold myself to is very high, and I feel like whatever that standard that I hold myself to, you’ll see.”
Basic? All that production as a rookie was basic?
in White Sulpher Springs, W.Va. Corey Sipkin for NY POST
“My rookie year was just basic,’’ Nabers said. “I left a lot of stuff on the field, and I missed a couple games, so I’m just excited to see where I will be.”
Nabers on this day was as relaxed and seemingly at ease with himself as any time in his relatively brief time with the Giants. Clearly, his demeanor reflected his own confidence that his return from tearing his right ACL is nearing full resolution.
For the second consecutive day, Nabers participated in individual drills and team work on offense with no defense on the field.
He said he has been running and cutting for weeks and that his second procedure — a clean-up to remove scar tissue — actually took place much earlier than previously reported. That could account for his ability to avoid the physically unable to perform list to start camp.
Nabers turned 23 this past Tuesday. He smiled more in a 10-minute session with the media after this practice than he has after some games in which he caught a bunch of passes. Getting out on the field with his teammates meant something to him, as his upbeat body language suggested.
“I mean, I might not show it. … I like to be a person that you never know my facial expressions,’’ he said. “I’m always just smooth and calm. But it felt good to be out there with the guys, get a couple throws, just move around.”
The answer everyone wants to know is this: Will he be up and running for the Sept. 13 season opener against the Cowboys?
“There’s no target date,” Nabers said. “Mindset is just stacking days, trying to get back out there with my teammates. If I can just keep on stacking days with the training staff and they continue to see improvements on my body, continue to see improvements on my knee and where I’m at, it’s just giving me more confidence to go out there and be able to play.”
This rehabilitation process challenged him, and not only physically.
“This is my first time I’ve had a mental battle,’’ Nabers said, adding that he kept his friends and family close and tried to have positive people around him as much as possible.
“You’re doing a lot of stuff, and you’re not seeing improvements and you’re always standing in the same spot week by week,’’ Nabers said. “But just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is that everyday process is just thinking that you’re going to get better and believing that you want to get better.’’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
