NEW YORK — The tone of Malik Nabers’ comeback changed a bit Monday.

The Giants’ top wide receiver said his surgically repaired right knee feels “real good” two weeks out from the regular-season opener, but he was non-committal about playing Sept. 13 in their Week 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

“My mind is focused on playing the regular season, playing whenever that is and playing what[ever] team it is,” Nabers said. “I’m going to be making sure that I’m ready to go out there and I’m healthy enough to play all four quarters, that nobody’s got to make sure I’m not in on every play or they have to make sure I got enough snaps or my snaps are limited. So that’s the main focus: just trying to be out there as much as I can.”

This was an interesting answer because it pumped the brakes on momentum for the Giants’ obvious belief in recent weeks that Nabers would be ready.

Head coach John Harbaugh said one week prior, as Nabers ramped up his practice activity, that it was “reasonable to assume” the receiver was trending towards being available against Dallas, barring a setback.

“How he gets through practice, how ready he is to play and protect himself, is really based on practice,” Harbaugh said. ‘You’re watching practice, too, and you can see it.”

Nabers, 23, however, sounds like he wants to be sure he is fully cleared before going full tilt.

He has plenty incentive to be patient. He has the ability to negotiate a contract extension after he completes his third NFL season this coming January. So returning on someone else’s timeline doesn’t make sense. He has to listen to his own body.

He had surgery on Oct. 28, 2025, to repair the torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee, plus a second procedure in the spring to clean up some scar tissue and stiffness.

And the goal isn’t to just be back on the field. It’s to return better than he was before.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say it takes a little while for you to feel better,” Nabers said. “But I’ve put in countless hours of work. I’ve put in many nights. I’ve sat in rooms, cried. I did everything to get to this moment right here. So I feel like when I get out there, I feel like I’ll be better than what I was before. … Will it take me some time? Who knows. But I know for sure if I’m out there, I’m going to run some routes, for sure.”

While he is way ahead of where Harbaugh and many others expected him to be in his rehab as the calendar turns to September, Nabers said there are “still some things to check off the box for you to participate,” including taking some real hits.

He practiced Monday, but last week, he left a practice early, and Harbaugh still hasn’t explained why.

“I don’t even know,” Harbaugh said. “It wasn’t even an issue. It was nothing. Nothing to worry about. Yes, he’s fine physically. It wasn’t about an injury or anything.”

If Nabers can’t play in Week 1, the Giants’ primary receiving corps as it is currently comprised would feature tight end Isaiah Likely, rookie Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney, Odell Beckham Jr., Darius Slayton and the running back rotation.

Nabers knows he looks good on the field. What matters is how he feels.

“[From] the outside view, I might look like I’m one hundred percent,” Nabers said. “I make everything look well. I mean, sometimes I run routes and I go look on the internet and I’m like, ‘Dang, I was moving kind of crazy.’ But when you’re in your body and you’re in it, you still have some things that you still got to work on as a football player that you got to be like, ‘I don’t feel right doing this cut. I don’t feel right. I haven’t been hit. I haven’t seen this.”

“I want to be able to come out there and make no mistakes and just be able to fly around and do what I do,” he added. “I’m getting there for sure. I’m getting there.”

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