The feeling that told Malik Nabers he was ready…
Malik Nabers, he insisted afterward, actually didn’t know he might play until warmups. Until he felt good stretching and working routes. Until he received “a little chill through my body.”
“I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s time,’” Nabers said after the Giants’ 28-20 victory over the Cowboys in the season opener. “It’s time.”
Nabers’ household didn’t even come to the assertion of a victory that opened the John Harbaugh period, with the star receiver questionable — despite being a full participant in follow your complete week — as his recovery from a torn ACL last season reached its last phases.
He completed with six catches on 9 targets for 69 yards, taking another step toward recapturing the classic type that outlined his rookie season and the start of his second 12 months until the season-ending injury.
“It’s a one-on-one battle that you got to go through,” Nabers said. “You gotta do it for yourself. And I didn’t want my family here and I was feeling like I let them down by not playing. I had to do it for myself first. I had to go out there, feel it out, feel I could do it and then I felt good.”
Nabers walked out of the tunnel and onto the sphere just before 6:30 p.m., working through his workout with a coach and then in the end making the call to play. During the week, he cited a concern with not jeopardizing his profession as a cause for why his standing lingered into the weekend.
New York Giants large receiver Malik Nabers runs as Dallas Cowboys cornerback Cobie Durant defends during the second quarter of a recreation in East Rutherford, NJ, on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. Bill Kostroun for NY Post
It didn’t take long for him to become involved with the offense, either. On the Giants’ first possession, Jaxson Dart accomplished his first go of the sport to Nabers, with the wideout motioning across the road of scrimmage and accumulating a 9-yard gain. The crowd chanted his identify after each reception. A balanced Giants offense meant Nabers didn’t need to dominate in his first recreation back, but, fairly, he began to construct a basis with a sustained cameo that wasn’t assured in the first place.
Giants large receiver Malik Nabers smiles as he walks off the sphere on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, in East Rutherford, NJ. The Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys 28-20. Bill Kostroun for NY Post
“I had to feel like I wanted to play,” Nabers said. “I had to feel it. Just everyone wanted to see me. … I had to feel the energy.”
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