EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsWHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- Standout New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers took part in the individual portion of a full-team practice Wednesday for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury Week 4 of last season.Head coach John Harbaugh said he "looked good" and even though it will be a little while before he partakes in a full practice, this was a step in the right direction.Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen wouldn't commit to Nabers being on schedule for Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys. They're going to see how the knee responds, how it reacts and make a determination on his workload on a day-to-day basis throughout training camp."We've got a really good plan for him," Schoen said. "The medical staff has a really good plan for him, and we're going to, always say listen to the patients. So, we're going to see how he reacts. We got a good plan in place, so as long as everything goes as planned, we'll listen to Malik and his body. And, again, hopefully he'll be ready and we'll see how it plays out. But no predictions right now, just because we have a long way to go. Still a lot of camp."Nabers tore his ACL and needed a full meniscus repair back in October. He needed a second surgery earlier this year to clean up scar tissue and eliminate some of the stiffness. That set back his timeline a bit and put Week 1 in jeopardy. But Nabers remained in New Jersey this summer and attacked his rehab aggressively. The Giants opted not to put him on the physically unable to perform list earlier this week for the start of camp. That was a step in the right direction.Nabers was stopping and starting, cutting and running routes with starting quarterback Jaxson Dart as the Giants took the field Wednesday for their first training camp practice of the summer. He was running without a limp or any noticeable discomfort.This was in stark contrast to the last time Nabers was seen trying to run at Brian Burns' charity softball game in late May. His knee was stiff and he moved with a significant limp throughout that event.Almost two months later, there has been significant progress."It was great. You saw him. He looked good," Harbaugh said. "He's got a process going. Thought he looked good."The Giants didn't want to put a timetable on their No. 1 receiver. Dart and Burns even said they don't want to rush Nabers' return.The good news is there remains six-plus weeks until New York opens its season against the rival Cowboys. That seems like ample time to get Nabers ready. Barring a setback, he seems to be tracking toward Week 1.The Giants don't want to put that kind of pressure on Nabers."Next will be tomorrow. We'll see where he's at," Harbaugh said. "That part of it will be that -- how It feels, how it responds, how it reacts, all those things. I want our guys, our trainers and staff, will be monitoring. See how the knee responds more than anything. Take it one day at a time. It was encouraging [Wednesday]."Dart and the Giants are well aware of the difference that Nabers can make. He had 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie in 2024. He was hurt four games into his sophomore season, in Dart's first game as the starter.Having Nabers on the field during training camp, even if it's limited, is important. Dart and Nabers didn't work together at all last summer with Russell Wilson as the Giants' first-team starting quarterback. They had just one week of practice and 23 snaps in game action before Nabers was injured.Dart sees the difference when his top playmaker is on the field."Well, he definitely has a presence about him. There's an aura that he has on the field that is exhilarating," Dart said. "It makes me happy, everybody's happy, to see him out on the field. And I think for him, he's had a lot of positives. So, we're just going to continue to get him in slowly and he's doing a great job with attacking his recovery."
