Giants first-round draft pick Malik Nabers injured, sent to locker room on TNF

The New York Giants struck gold when they selected wide receiver Malik Nabers in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Through four games, the No. 6 overall draft pick out of LSU has done nothing but wow and impress.

Unfortunately, Nabers was injured in the fourth quarter on a failed fourth-down play. The Amazon broadcast announced that Nabers has been diagnosed with a concussion.

Nabers was taken into the blue medical tent initially for evaluation. Then, he was taken to the team’s locker room late in the fourth quarter.

The play that took him out was a fourth-and-6 play. He was attempting to haul in a sideline pass while toe-tapping but unfortunately lost possession of the ball and fell hard on his head.

The rookie wide receiver put all his skills on display on Thursday night as the Giants took on their divisional rival, the Dallas Cowboys. His huge game started early when Nabers shook Dallas cornerback Andrew Booth so bad he literally fell to the ground before the young receiver gained 39 yards to spark the Giants’ first scoring drive.

The big plays were tough to come by, however, the rest of the way. Dallas’ defense focused on keeping Nabers from breaking things open, and former First-Team All-Pro Trevon Diggs had plenty of chances to cover him up.

Despite all the attention, Nabers continued to get open and was the workhorse of the New York passing offense. He was targeted by Daniel Jones 14 times in the game, and the rookie came up with 12 receptions for 115 yards.

Through four games, Nabers has put up numbers you’d expect from the best receivers in the game today — not a bright-eyed rookie. He’s caught 35 passes on 51 targets (my goodness, that target share!) for 386 yards with three touchdowns. And he’s doing all this playing with a sub-par quarterback in an offense that every other team knows is feeding him the ball.

Coming into Week 4 of the NFL season, Nabers ranked fifth in the NFL in receiving yards. Given his dominant performance against the Cowboys, it wouldn’t be surprised to see him ranked even higher when this week’s games are concluded.

Statistically, Nabers is already a top-five NFL receiver. And he’s only going to get better. A rookie, Nabers is lining up all over the field for Brian Daboll, playing all three positions every single game.

He’s the ultimate matchup nightmare, and it’s not hard to see that he is a true alpha and soon will be considered one of the very best players in a league full of shining stars. Hopefully his injury is not significant and he’s on the field for Week 5.