The New York Giants spent Thursday preparing for Monday night in Los Angeles, and the most closely watched figure on the practice field was not one of the defensive backs listed on the injury report.
It was Malik Nabers, the wide receiver who made his return from a torn ACL and meniscus only four days earlier and is now trying to prove the Week 1 appearance was the start of something sustainable rather than a one-off.
Nabers played Sunday against Dallas after a week of public uncertainty, finishing with six catches for 69 yards. That outing came after months of rehab, a second procedure to clean out scar tissue, and a game-time decision that the coaching staff left largely in his hands.
The next test is whether his knee responds the same way after real contact.
On Thursday, John Harbaugh offered an update that sounded encouraging and strangely detached at the same time.
“I think good. I think good. I haven’t really asked him directly, but the trainers said he looked good,” Harbaugh said. “It looked like it was an A, I would say, but you should ask him. Seemed good, though.”
The phrasing is hard to ignore. The head coach of a team that just leaned on its star receiver in a nationally televised opener has not spoken to that player about how he feels.
He is grading the session based on what the trainers told him and then directing reporters to go get the real answer from Nabers himself.
After the careful, almost theatrical process that preceded Week 1, the secondhand “A” feels like an odd way to close the loop. It leaves the impression that the organization is still treating Nabers’ availability as something that lives a little outside the usual coach-to-player channel.
That approach may simply reflect how the Giants have handled this recovery from the beginning. Nabers has been allowed to set much of the pace. He practiced fully last week and still landed on the questionable list until he decided, after warmups, that he was ready.
The same pattern appears to be in play now. He was not among the players limited or held out Thursday, which is the cleanest signal the staff can give that the knee tolerated the first game.
Yet Harbaugh’s wording keeps a sliver of distance between the official report and the man whose body is actually being asked to do the work.
The rest of the injury report is more conventional. Paulson Adebo did not practice because of his knee. Deonte Banks was limited with a calf issue. Those absences matter for a secondary that already has questions.
They do not, however, change the fact that the Giants’ most important skill player is once again the subject of a carefully worded, slightly awkward status update.
Monday night against the Rams will show whether the trainers’ “A” holds up when the hits start coming again.
