Giants' Malik Nabers opens up about lingering toe issue

New York Giants second-year wide receiver Malik Nabers recently acknowledged that he may eventually require surgery to repair a lingering toe issue that dates back to his days at LSU.

During a Monday appearance on the FanDuel TV "Up & Adams Show," Nabers expanded on his attempts to manage the injury for as long as possible. 

"It's like a mosquito that don't want to go away," Nabers said about his toe, as shared by Kevin Patra of the NFL's website. "I'm trying to shoo it away. But I've been doing a great job with [quarterback Russell Wilson], trainers, you know, I've been using his physical therapist guys. I've been doing an excellent job of just staying on track of it and having his people, having my people, all together, trying to work on keeping me as healthy as possible. We're moving in the right direction. We're just staying on top of it so it don't give me any problems later on down the line."

The Giants made Nabers the sixth overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, and he quickly emerged as a potential future superstar while featuring for what became a 3-14 team. According to ESPN stats, he finished his rookie season ranked fifth in the league with 109 receptions and seventh with 1,204 receiving yards. He also tallied seven touchdown catches over 15 games (he missed a pair of contests due to a concussion). 

As a first-year pro, Nabers caught passes thrown by Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle. Wilson is now trying to extend his career while sharing an offense with Nabers, but the Giants could turn to 2025 first-round pick Jaxson Dart if the one-time Super Bowl champion struggles over New York's first couple of regular-season games. 

As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Giants at +100 betting odds to notch over 5.5 wins during the upcoming campaign. Reaching even six victories could be a struggle for the 2025 Giants if Nabers misses any action due to his toe. 

"This mosquito is one of them big mosquitoes," Nabers added during his comments. "Can't get this one. We're trying to kill it, though."