The rough landing that forced Malik Nabers to miss two games was apparently news to Malik Nabers.
A day after being officially cleared from the NFL concussion protocol, the New York Giants rookie discussed the play that caused his concussion with reporters after the Giants practice on Friday. Although he answered questions about the circumstances surrounding the play, he could not remember the injury itself, according to ESPN:
“It was scary when I couldn’t remember what happened,” Nabers said. “I can’t remember the last play I was in, so yeah, it was quite scary.
‘The last thing I remember was [Jones] throw me the ball. That’s it.”
Such memory loss is not uncommon in concussions, but is still concerning. Nabers also reportedly said he had a headache and pounding in his head after the injury, which he claimed was the first known concussion.
On the play in question, Nabers was set up for a pass down the sideline from Daniel Jones in the fourth quarter of a “Thursday Night Football” game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. Nabers failed to get down with the ball come and landed with his helmet absorbing much of his downward momentum.
He stayed down after the match and did not appear again in the match.
Nabers then missed the Giants’ next two games, a win against the Seattle Seahawks and a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The concussion interrupted a great start to Nabers’ NFL career. Through Week 4, he led all NFL receivers in receptions with 35 and ranked second in receiving yards with 386. The Giants selected him sixth overall out of LSU in the 2024 NFL Draft and had no hesitation in making him center of an attack tries to do his best while Daniel Jones is still throwing passes.
However, that workload increases the risk of injury for Nabers, and they can only hope that the concussion is the worst problem he has this season. The team has capitalized on his current position by drafting him instead of a quarterback, but he is already an essential part of the future.
Nabers will now return on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. He was reportedly limited in training on Friday by a groin problem but has no injuries going into the match.
