The New York Giants can breathe a sigh of relief, Malik Nabers’ injury during training camp isn’t a major one. It’s not only good news for the Giants and their fans, but good news for Nabers himself. The second-year receiver is destined for a breakout season with the quarterback issue resolved for at least a year in New York.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Nabers "will have his shoulder checked out, but appears ok."
The Giants signed Russell Wilson as their Daniel Jones replacement this offseason. It’s a move that should make this passing offense more of a threat and take Nabers to a new level. They drafted Jaxson Dart as well to eventually take over the starting role, but for now, Nabers has a much better player under center, not named Daniel Jones.
Had Nabers’ injury been major, that would have been another curse for the Giants as they seemingly can’t escape mediocrity. But a crisis is averted and now it’s about letting Nabers rest, recover and prepare for the preseason and Week 1.
Malik Nabers should have standout second year as long as he stays healthy
Nabers was relatively healthy his rookie season, only missing a couple games due to a concussion. He erupted for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie. His 1,204 yards was seventh most in the NFL. Had it not been for Jayden Daniels and the turn around he led with the Washington Commanders, he made a strong argument for rookie of the year.
Now that the Giants have a respectable quarterback under center, there are no excuses. While having Jones, Danny DeVito and Drew Lock throwing passes to him, Nabers surpassed 1,200 yards as a rookie. With Wilson, the offense should look a lot better.
That said, the Giants shouldn’t have too high expectations because of how things ended with Wilson and his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, last year. The Steelers ended the year with a five-game losing streak, including a loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the playoffs. A lot of the Steelers’ struggles came from Wilson not playing well.
If he has those same struggles, Nabers will probably be just as frustrated as he was with Jones. Hopefully it doesn’t come down to that. Nabers knows what he adds to this team, which is why the good news on his shoulder injury is important.
Had the Giants lost Nabers it would have been a grim start to the year. It also would have added to the shortcomings that seem to never escape this team.