Malik Nabers' status for Week 1 was a true game-time decision. The New York Giants wide receiver entered Sunday unsure about whether he would suit up for the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys, and it took until pregame warmups for him to decide that he was ready to make his return from a torn ACL and meniscus. The decision may have had more to do with Nabers' mental hurdle than the strength of his knee.
Anyone who has recovered from a serious injury understands the physical element is just half the battle. Convincing yourself that you can do what you were once capable of — without the fear of reinjury — is the other element. It is part of the reason why Nabers did not even invite his family to the NFC East showdown.
"It's a one-on-one battle that you gotta go through," Nabers said postgame. "You gotta do it for yourself. I didn't want my family here and to feel like I let them down by not playing.
I had to do it for myself first. I had to go out there, feel it out, feel what I could do, and I felt good." It was not until Nabers got onto the field at MetLife Stadium and felt the adrenaline of game day that he got past the uncertainty. The Giants' first pass of the game, a nine-yarder to Nabers, had to have helped him settle his nerves in the first quarter.
But what John Harbaugh did to his star receiver in the hours before kickoff did not hurt, either. He shook off Nabers' nerves by tackling him. "It was right before we were supposed to start our walkthrough," quarterback Jaxson Dart said.
"Things were just up in the air. We didn't know exactly what was going to happen. Me and Coach Harbs had some conversations, and he was like, 'I think once he gets hit for the first time and realizes that he's OK, that he's gonna feel confident.' I think in his mind that triggered, 'Maybe I should tackle him right then and there.' "We were all just standing there, and then all of the sudden, 'Lik goes down on the ground.
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