Giants WR Malik Nabers tore his ACL, tests confirm: Source

The New York Giants’ worst fears have been confirmed. Star wide receiver Malik Nabers will miss the remainder of the season after tests revealed he tore his ACL, league sources told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini on Monday.

Nabers got hurt during the second quarter of Sunday’s 21-18 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He started to leap for a deep pass from rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, but he couldn’t complete the jump as something went wrong. Nabers appeared to grab his leg mid-catch, and he was down on the field for a long time before a cart came out to take him off the field.

It’s a huge loss for the Giants’ offense, as Nabers has been the No. 1 target since he arrived in New York last year as the No. 6 selection out of LSU. He entered Sunday with 16 catches for 251 yards, fourth among NFL receivers.

Despite leaving the game early, Nabers’ 35 targets this season are tied for seventh-most in the NFL entering Monday Night Football. Last season, Nabers was No. 2 in the league in targets (170) behind Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase despite playing in two fewer games. Nabers finished his fabulous rookie season with 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns while commanding a league-high 30.7% of his team’s targets.

Suffice it to say, he’s a critical part of the Giants offense who will be next to impossible to replace.

“Unfortunately, this is a business of injury, and I feel terrible for Malik’s injury,” coach Brian Daboll said Sunday postgame. “He’s an important piece of our team, but … it’s the next man up.”

For the Giants, next man up is Darius Slayton, who has stepped into the Giants’ WR1 role before, when Nabers missed two games with a concussion last season. With Slayton bumping up a spot, 2023 third-rounder Jalin Hyatt now has the opportunity to see more action, as he should replace Slayton as the team’s other outside receiver. The Giants also have the undrafted rookie Beaux Collins to turn to, but he’s played just 12 percent of the team’s offensive snaps so far this season.

Following Nabers’ injury, former Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham shared his thoughts on X about the risks players take on when playing on turf fields, like the one at MetLife Stadium.

“Dear @NFL, I mean this with the upmost love and respect,” Beckham wrote. “We (The NFL) take all The precautions in the world with EVERYthing else when it comes to players “health” and “safety.” PLZ. PLZ. PLZ. GET RID OF THE (angry expletive emoji) TURF. Thank You in advance. LUV.”

In a follow-up post, he added: “Respect and u kno I loveeeee the giants, but DeathLife has taken too many talented players away from the game. I kno it’s not ALL the turfs fault but at least maybe it to where we’ve gotten all research done to if TURF has to stay it’s at the HIGHEST of quality possible. At least can we start the discussion.”

(Photo: Ishika Samant / Getty Images)

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