Nabers (knee) increases participation on Thursday

Nabers told reporters Monday that he still needed to clear a few checkpoints before being ready to suit up for the season opener against Dallas. “Will it take some time? Who knows?” he said. “But I know for sure if I’m out there, I’m going to run some routes.” Some routes and movements, he added, feel better than others on surgically-repaired knee. Even so, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan said the “expectation is [Nabers] will be playing barring some sort of setback.” A target hog who’s explosive with the ball in his hands, Nabers profiles as a risky fantasy selection for now. His absence in the season opener would be a blow to Jaxson Dart’s outlook.

Nabers continues to trend toward playing in Week 1 against the Cowboys, provided he avoids any setbacks. The star receiver officially shed his non-contact jersey on Monday and participated in a limited capacity in 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. Raanan said Nabers participated in three reps for both drills and “made a really nice catch when he went down and plucked a pass off the turf.” Speaking after Monday’s practice, head coach John Harbaugh said it would be “reasonable to assume” Nabers will play in Week 1 barring any setbacks. Nabers projects as a low-end WR1 in fantasy this season with the upside for top-five production once he’s back to full strength.

Things are still up in the air on this one. Harbaugh said it’s “a possibility” that Nabers ditches the red non-contact jersey, but added that he doesn’t think it’s “a necessity” to do so this week. The season opener is exactly three weeks away, so delaying the decision by a week might be fine. Nabers is seemingly on track to face the Cowboys in Week 1.

It was a big day for Nabers, as the star receiver participated in 11-on-11s for the first time since suffering a torn ACL last season. While he may not be up to full-speed just yet, it has been a positive summer for Nabers overall. He managed to avoid the PUP list to open camp and has not suffered any setbacks since then. He’s still sporting the red non-contact jersey, but all signs continue to point to Nabers being ready for Week 1 if he continues on his current trajectory.

Nabers reportedly sported a red, non-contact jersey as he took part in a walkthrough period that Giants coaches used to install plays. According to SNY’s Connor Hughes, Nabers caught a couple of passes while running routes against the defense today. Per Hughes, “everything points towards him being back for the start of the season.”

Nabers’ participation in training camp has steadily increased over the last two weeks, and the star receiver has reportedly looked good on his surgically repaired knee. According to Raanan, Nabers has “looked better as the summer progressed” and was able to cut and jump without any trouble. While he has yet to participate in seven-on-seven or 11-on-11 drills, the belief is that Nabers will begin participating in live drills in the coming weeks. The uncertainty surrounding Nabers’ injury has created a nice buying opportunity for fantasy managers who were willing to take a shot on him earlier this offseason at his suppressed ADP. While his price is likely to go up for the remainder of summer, if Nabers is good to go for Week 1, he will be well worth the cost as he projects as a high-end WR1 when healthy.

Well, that could explain a lot. Nabers shocked many of us by showing off fairly crisp route running at training camp this week. A week ago, he was thought to be a candidate for the PUP list. Back in May, news broke that Nabers had undergone a clean-up procedure on his knee “multiple weeks ago.” Although ambiguous, it was apparently incorrect. Nabers did not specify in which direction, but given his participation, one assumes the procedure occurred earlier than the report indicated. Positive reports continue to roll in for the young star.

According to Nabers, the “plan is to keep stacking days” and see where things go. We’ll take it. Nabers’ limited participation thus far is a remarkably positive development. He is coming off a major injury, so he is not without risk, but his elite upside makes him well worth the dice roll. He seemingly has a chance to play in Week 1 against the Cowboys.

Nabers avoided the PUP list to start training camp, which was a bit of a surprise given the generally negative reporting surrounding his knee injury during the offseason. He suffered a torn ACL and meniscus, both of which required surgery. Nabers also underwent a cleanup procedure during the summer. Though he is still a long way away from fully participating in practice, all signs point to him playing early in the season, if not Week 1 outright.

Nabers will “have a reduced workload early in camp” and avoiding the PUP list was “a promising first step, but it’s not the final checkpoint” per Duggan. That’s the bad news, but the overall trend is going enough in the right direction that Duggan believes Nabers could play right away. These things can shift fast — one rough practice could change a whole tone — but guarded optimism is probably the right way to characterize this update.