John Harbaugh Won't Commit To Return Date For Malik Nabers

The New York Giants may have to wait longer than expected to get Malik Nabers back in their starting lineup.

Nabers entered the 2025 season with lofty expectations, which made sense considering he had 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie. Unfortunately, his sophomore campaign was cut short in September by a torn ACL. He had surgery performed on Oct. 28.

Earlier this month, Dan Duggan of The Athletic revealed that Nabers underwent a second surgery on his knee to remove scar tissue. It was initially reported that Nabers' recovery timeline wouldn't be impacted by that procedure.

Well, the latest update on Nabers isn't very encouraging.

After the Giants completed their third organized team activity practice, John Harbaugh was asked about Nabers' health. He told reporters that Nabers isn't dealing with a "simple" knee injury.

"He's in the middle of it. It's such a hard thing. It's an ACL, and whatever else he had in that knee," Harbaugh said. "Not a simple knee [injury], you know? So, um, he's in the slog of it, the grind of it, I would say. So, he's fighting through it, and he's here every day working hard at it."

When will Malik Nabers return?

Harbaugh wasn't eager to place a timeline on Nabers' return, but obviously he'd love to have the Pro Bowl wideout for Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.

"Just impossible to predict. I mean, the goal is to start the season and get out there sometime in training camp. That'd be the goal, and we'll see what happens."

Prior to these remarks from Harbaugh, ESPN's Jordan Raanan said the Giants wanted Nabers back for the start of training camp in late July. That timeline has been pushed back.

"New York was optimistic at the start of the year that Nabers would be ready for the beginning of training camp in late July," Raanan wrote. "That has since been pushed back to later in the summer given the difficulty of his recovery."

Giants fans won't mind if Nabers takes all the time he needs as long as he returns to his rookie form.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 11:07 AM.