The Dallas Cowboys might have their hands more full in Week 1 of the regular season than previously anticipated.
The Sunday Night Football primetime showdown on the road against the New York Giants could see the Giants bring back arguably their best player â Pro Bowl wide receiver Malik Nabers â who is coming off a torn ACL early in the 2025 season that required multiple surgeries to repair.
âThe story coming out of Giants training camp, after 12 days in West Virginia, is the progress of star wide receiver Malik Nabers,â ESPNâs Jordan Raanan said on August 8. âHe didnât start the summer on the PUP list, participated in 9 out of the 10 practices, and looked better as the (camp) progressed. Nabers cut, ran routes, and looked good doing it. He even jumped and landed on the affected knee he tore (the ACL in) early last season. I asked coach John Harbaugh whatâs next in the process, and he said more and more time (Nabers) will get in practice. That means live drills or 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 sometime in the next couple of weeks. Barring a setback, it seems like Nabers is trending toward being ready Week 1 for the Dallas Cowboys.â
The Cowboys had the NFL’s worst pass defense in 2025, so starting things off by potentially getting torched by Nabers … not ideal.
Malik Nabers Seemed Like Elite NFL WR in 2024
As a rookie in 2024, Nabers seemed like 1 of the NFLâs best wide receivers right out of the gate with 109 receptions for 1,204 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns in 15 games on the way to being named a Pro Bowler.
Nabers dismissed a question from reporters on July 31 about when he might be able to return to the player he was as a rookie â dismissed in the politest way possible.
âI have extreme confidence in myself,â Nabers said. âAnd Iâm not gonna put myself in any spot where Iâm not gonna be better than what I was before. So I donât see myself being what I was before, what yâall saw my rookie year. I felt like that was basic ⦠I hold myself to a very high standard, and I feel like that high standard, youâre going to see it sooner or later.â
Malik Nabers Called âDark Horseâ OPOY Candidate
Bleacher Reportâs Alex Kay put Nabers at the top of his list of âdark horse candidatesâ to win NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2026.
Nabers currently sits at +4500 odds to win across the major betting sites, with Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson running neck-and-neck as favorites with odds ranging from +700 to +900.
âDespite Nabersâ bursting onto the scene with one of the best rookie seasons in recent memory â he caught 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games â and establishing himself as one of the best receivers in the league, he only has the 19th best odds of winning Offensive Player of the Year this season,â Kay wrote on July 8. âNabersâ impending return will be a massive boon for a Giants squad working to take a major step forward in 2026. The team went all-in on a regime change and roster improvements this offseason, most notably placing John Harbaugh at the head coaching reins and bolstering Jaxson Dartâs protection with first-round guard Francis Mauigoa.â
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