One day after New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll gave a positive injury update regarding rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers on Wednesday, insider Dan Duggan of The Athletic provided a significantly more worrisome message surrounding the situation on Thursday.
Nabers suffered a concussion late in the team's 20-15 "Thursday Night Football" loss against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 and missed New York's 29-20 win vs. the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5.
Daboll said WR Malik Nabers is in the same stage of the concussion protocol yesterday. That’s a concerning development for his chances of being cleared for Sunday.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) October 10, 2024
Malik Nabers did much less today than yesterday in the brief open portion of practice. He only rode an exercise bike on the side today. Yesterday he was running and doing more football-related drills.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) October 10, 2024
ESPN's Jordan Raanan added that Friday "seems like the big day" for Nabers' Week 6 status, writing that he'd "need to practice in order to play" against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The LSU product has been everything Giants fans had hoped for when the team selected him as the sixth overall pick in the spring.
Nabers had a solid NFL debut in Week 1 with five catches for 66 yards on seven targets vs. the Minnesota Vikings but turned it up across Weeks 2-4. The 21-year-old went off for three touchdowns with 320 receiving yards on 30 receptions across the trio of contests.
Nabers had double-digit catches and surpassed 100 receiving yards in Weeks 2 and 4 and made numerous types of history in New York's 21-15 win against the Cleveland Browns in Week 3.
He finished that contest with a game-high eight receptions and team highs in receiving yards (78) and targets (12) while matching Browns wideout Amari Cooper's two scores.
With the effort, Nabers became the first player in NFL history to record at least 20 catches and three touchdowns in his first three career contests. He also became the youngest wideout in league history with two scores through the air at 21 years and 56 days old.
Even after missing Week 5, Nabers leads Big Blue in a host of pass-catching categories including targets (52), receptions (35), receiving yards (386) and touchdowns (three).
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