Giants HC Brian Daboll: No Update on WR Malik Nabers

For those looking for an update on New York Giants receiver Nabers, who is currently in the concussion protocol, head coach Brian Daboll did not provide one when he spoke to the media Monday afternoon. 

“I’ll meet with the doctors after we have our team meeting,” Daboll said. “We’ll see where we’re at.”

Daboll’s deferring any word on the receiver is nothing new, as he rarely provides the media with an update on any injured players the day after the game, regardless of when he speaks. 

But the reason for that probably has to do with the fact that the players typically don’t have to start practice until Wednesday so there is probably no point in giving the opponent any sort of head start in preparing for the Giants’ personnel.

The last official update the Giants provided on Nabers was on Friday when the rookie was declared out of the Week 5 game against the Seahawks. Nabers did not practice at all last week, which would suggest that he was still working his way through the early part of the league’s five-phase protocol.

Based on the protocol, Nabers, as of last Friday, may have been in Phase 2, which allows for “cardiovascular exercise, dynamic stretching and balance training.” He was not spotted at any of the practices during the part open to the media.

It’s possible that he might have come outside after the practices were close to the media to work with trainers as part of Phase 3 (Football Specific Exercises) , which entails the “mimicking of sport-specific activities and supervised strength training, with the player allowed to engage in sport-specific training exercise for no more than 30 minutes while under careful supervision of a team medical professional.” 

Phase 4 would see the player allowed to participate in non-contact drills while wearing a red jersey. If Nabers gets to this phase by Thursday of this week, his chances of being available for Sunday’s game against the Bengals would increase, barring any setbacks. 

Nabers dropped to seventh (tied with Chris Godwin of the Bucs) for the lead league in receiving yards (386), but he still leads the Giants receivers in that category, his three touchdowns also the most on the team.