Giants’ Odell deal leaves Nabers’ Week 1 in doubt

Even after the Giants signed Odell Beckham, the bigger question still hangs over the season: whether Malik Nabers will be ready for the Week 1 opener. An orthopedic surgeon says Nabers’ torn ACL recovery could be prolonged because his surgery also included a f

The Giants signed Odell Beckham Monday, a reunion built for momentum and hope. But inside the team’s receiver room, another clock is ticking louder—whether Malik Nabers can actually be on the field when the season begins.

Nabers is the Giants’ No. 1 receiver, and they need him healthy. He is still recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Darius Slayton is already out for the spring after undergoing core muscle surgery. returner Gunner Olszewski’s season is ended by a torn Achilles tendon. and Beckham is arriving as one of three veteran receivers the Giants brought in Monday alongside Braxton Berrios and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The outlook for Nabers’ Week 1 availability is where the tension becomes real. The Sept. 13 season opener is scheduled against the Cowboys. But Dr. Carlos Uquillas—an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles and a team physician for the Los Angeles Angels—told NJ.com on Monday that it would not be surprising if Nabers misses the opener and potentially more games after that.

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Uquillas said. “Sometimes, these can take up to a year to get better, especially if they have other damage, like a meniscus repair or scar tissue removal. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t ready for Week 1.”

The recovery may be longer because Nabers’ ACL surgery included a full meniscus repair. On top of that, this offseason he underwent a second surgery on his knee to remove scar tissue that was causing stiffness—another factor Uquillas said could extend the rehab window.

Uquillas also said Nabers has time to “catch up” after the scar tissue removal surgery. While Uquillas noted he has not examined Nabers, he stressed he is an expert on torn ACLs and laid out why the added procedures can slow the timeline.

Nabers tore his ACL last season in rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s first start, on Sept. 28 against the Chargers. Nabers had surgery exactly a month later. Uquillas said that waiting a period before operating is standard procedure, explaining that the surgeon—Dr. Daniel Cooper, the Cowboys’ head team doctor—wanted swelling to subside before surgery.

Uquillas said that if Nabers had been able to undergo surgery immediately, the rehab window would have started earlier.

Then comes the meniscus. Even though Nabers tore just his ACL and not also his MCL, LCL or PCL, Uquillas called a full meniscus repair a “pesky” factor in a receiver’s recovery. Hard, quick cutting is central to the position, and it’s especially difficult without a brace.

“It depends on the extent of the meniscus repair,” Uquillas said. “There are some repairs that are small, and they don’t really change the rehab very much. More significant repairs. where you have to take weight off the leg for four to six weeks after the surgery. they do slow it down. at least in the first two to three months.”.

He added that meniscus repairs can bring restrictions on range of motion. Uquillas explained that limiting bending early can contribute to stiffness. “So there’s a slightly higher risk of stiffness when you have a meniscus repair on top of an ACL.”

Uquillas also connected the month-long wait to the broader injury. He said Nabers needing to wait a month before having surgery was “probably related to the [damaged] meniscus. because that usually adds to the injury. in terms of swelling and soreness. So it just shows that it’s a worse injury than just an ACL.”.

A second procedure—removing scar tissue that had tightened up the knee—can also stretch recovery. Uquillas said it “depends” on how significant the movement restrictions were before removal. “So if they’ve been moving slowly because of the scar tissue. and then you decide to do the removal. it does tend to prolong the overall recovery timeline. ” he said. “But it depends on how extensive that scar tissue removal was, too.”.

Uquillas made another point that matters for what Giants fans want to see on the field. Removing scar tissue doesn’t immediately fix the problem. “Not immediately, because the [surrounding] soft tissues are still tight,” he said. “You still have to work through some of that tightness to improve the motion. So it does improve it, but it’s not a night-and-day change right away. You still need to work on it.”.

Nabers was jogging Saturday at teammate Brian Burns’ charity softball game. Uquillas said that kind of activity is normal at this stage. “At this stage in recovery, they should be jogging,” he said. “They should be starting to add some cutting and pivoting under supervision.”

Uquillas said it’s unclear whether Nabers is doing that cutting and pivoting as part of his private rehab with the Giants’ training staff. Still, he said it wouldn’t be surprising if he is. “He probably should be doing more than jogging — and he may be,” Uquillas said. “But it doesn’t surprise me that he’s jogging.”.

Uquillas typically tells patients to expect a recovery window of nine months to a year after a torn ACL. depending on the injury’s extent. For Nabers, a year post-injury would land in late September—timing that could mean he misses the first three games. The Giants’ fourth game is Oct. 4 at home against Arizona.

“It can be over a year,” Uquillas said. “Sometimes, I think it’s a little bit less usual for that to be the case. But it’s all dependent on function [for motion and strength].”

Even if Nabers returns, Uquillas expects a gradual—not immediate—return to the dominant level he showed before the injury. “There’s a chance the first year. he’s easing his way in. getting his endurance back. his explosiveness back. ” he said. “Even though he’s playing, he may still be not his full self the first season. That’s not unusual. Especially with [Nabers] needing a second surgery, certainly it’s a little more complicated than just the typical ACL.”.

Giants Malik Nabers Odell Beckham NFL Cowboys ACL recovery meniscus repair scar tissue removal Darius Slayton Gunner Olszewski JuJu Smith-Schuster Braxton Berrios