Malik Nabers Camp Update — August 31: The red jersey came off
2026 NFL Season · Monday, Aug 31
Nabers shed the red non-contact jersey and took the first contact drills of his ACL rehab during the week, with John Harbaugh saying it is reasonable to assume he is trending toward being available right out of the gate. Then he walked off Wednesday's practice about twenty minutes early with a trainer, with Harbaugh saying there is no injury. He is on the initial fifty-three the Giants announced Sunday, per the team's release, and the Dallas opener still has no ruling either way.
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The red non-contact jersey is gone. On Monday, August 20-fourth, Malik Nabers practiced in a white jersey, running 11-on-11 seven-on-seven periods, and John Harbaugh told reporters he was "probably moving the best we've seen him look" — adding that it is "reasonable to assume" Nabers is trending toward being available right out of the gate, per Scott Thompson at OutKick. Harbaugh also said the plan was to raise the contact level gradually rather than jump from zero to full Week One participation, and the ramp followed: Nabers took the first contact drills of his rehab during the week, per Patricia Traina at Giants On SI. Thompson's report also carries a fuller description of the injury than this file has had — a torn right ACL with meniscus damage, suffered in Week Four of last season.
Then Wednesday complicated the picture. Nabers walked off that day's practice with a trainer about 20 minutes early, and Harbaugh addressed it directly: "It wasn't part of the plan... There's no injury," per Traina. No reporting we could reach covers Thursday's or Friday's practices, and Nabers did not play Friday's 23 to six win over the Jets, a game most starters sat, per Matt Sidney at GMenHQ. On Sunday the Giants announced their initial 53-man roster with Nabers one of five receivers, per the team's official release — a room that lost Calvin Austin III for the season, a torn ACL in Tuesday's practice and injured reserve Thursday, per the team's announcement.
Back in June our preview made availability the first, second and third conversation on Nabers, and the August file has been a rehab hitting each scheduled checkpoint on time. Last week's episode asked whether the red jersey would come off for contact work in the run-up to cutdown, and whether he would practice fully through it. Half of that is answered: the jersey came off, and contact arrived. The other half did not get a clean answer — a Wednesday walk-off, a coach's "no injury," and then silence. Harbaugh's framing is warmer than it was a week ago, but "reasonable to assume" is not a ruling on September thirteenth against Dallas, and no ruling exists in either direction. We'll check back as the opener comes into focus.
_Data via nflverse._
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