New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers says the Week 1 decision is his and God’s after full practices, high confidence in his knee, and a refusal to risk his career.
Nabers met with reporters on Thursday after another full practice and declined to say whether he will play Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The decision, he made clear, sits with him. When asked when he would know the answer, Nabers did not cite medical clearance or a coach’s projection.
“I’ll let God tell me,” he said. “We’ve got a plan. He’s got the plan. I’m just following in his footsteps that he wants me to take.”
That plan has been built on a rehabilitation he described without polish. Nabers said he grinded through early mornings and late nights, prayed hard and did
everything he could so that the play-or-sit choice would belong to him. He has taken contact. He practiced fully Wednesday and Thursday and expects another full day Friday. None of it, he said, automatically puts him on the field when the lights come on.
“The game speed is different,” Nabers said. “Adrenaline is flowing, bullets are flying. You make split decisions on what you want to do with your body, and we’ll see what happens.”
He left open a scenario in which three straight full practices still end with him inactive. If a limited snap count becomes part of the discussion, he wants to be the one who starts it.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to tell me I’m going to be on the pitch count because at the end of the day, it’s my career and it’s my body," he said.
His confidence in the knee itself is high. Nabers said he has tested it thoroughly and feels good moving. What remains is game-level certainty and a refusal to be rushed. He has wanted to play since the injury. He also knows how much football is left.
“I can’t put my career at risk,” he said. “There’s a lot of football that I still have left to play.”
A Jaxson Dart-to-Nabers connection on Sunday Night Football “has a nice ring to it,” he admitted. He insisted he is not keeping Dallas guessing for sport. If he is playing, the Cowboys will know. If he is not, they will know that, too.
The decision is the decision, Nabers said. Everyone else will have to live with it.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants WR Malik Nabers leaves Week 1 decision to faith
