New York Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers is slowly ramping up his workload at training camp. He is coming off major surgery to repair tears to both his ACL and his meniscus.
Nabers made news when doctors had to go back in to “clean things up” this spring, and there were questions about whether he would be ready for the Giants’ season opener September 13 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Head coach John Harbaugh has been keeping the public apprised of Nabers’ progress. On Tuesday, Harbaugh was asked about Nabers’ status after a second consecutive day of practice.
“I thought he handled it well. He looked good today,” Harbaugh told reporters. “It was kind of a similar type of a load. They’re adding reps to those; he had more reps in the team period than he had yesterday, so they’re going to keep building on that. How much we do down there with him will be in question, just because you’re going against a different team. So, we can’t control the environment quite as well. So, we’ll have to give that some thought.”
Nabers practiced with the red jersey on again, which means the other players on the field are prohibited from making contact with him. Harbaugh was asked what the process is for shedding the red jersey.
“There are certain formulas that we use that kind of tell us what the risk factors are in practice,” said Harbaugh. “So, that’s what we ramped the whole team up that way. We’re to a point in time now where guys are pretty well protected in a sense. They’re kind of calloused up.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt, but just less injuries happen after a certain amount of work. So, that’s part of it with him. It’s also to your eye. It’s also how he feels, and then ultimately with the doctors. So, I think you just do it slowly, and you just keep building to the point where it’s not like all of a sudden he’s doing something, and now he’s doing everything. You just work your way towards that.”
Harabugh was then asked if Nabers would be wearing the red jersey the rest of the summer.
“No, he won’t go through the rest of the summer in a red jersey. It’s a good question, thanks. No, he’ll be out of a red jersey before he plays in a game. He’s going to have to get bumped around and hit and fronted up so he knows how to, you just have to feel that and know how to deal with it to protect yourself. It’s a good question,” the coach said.
Finally, the question of when Nabers might be back practicing in full in a blue jersey again.
“I don’t know,” Harbaugh said. “You don’t know. It’s just day by day. Some days he might ramp it up more, and he might say, I feel great, and I want more than you had planned. And then the trainers may feel good about that, and if he does it and gets through it, then ooh, we’ve traveled more miles today than maybe they thought you would. It could go the other way, too. So, it’s just day-to-day.”
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants’ John Harbaugh outlines next hurdle Malik Nabers must clear
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Fennelly, Giants Wire | USA TODAY Network
