EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — (AP) — Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants could be without Malik Nabers for a while — and perhaps the rest of the season.
The star wide receiver was carted from the field with an injured right knee in the second quarter of the Giants' 21-18 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
“Don’t have much on the injury front,” coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “I haven’t talked to the trainers yet.”
The fear is it could be a serious injury to Nabers' ACL, which would be a significant blow to the Giants' offense.
“Obviously, prayers to him,” Dart said. “I don’t think we know exactly what happened, so he’s going to be one of my first phone calls to check on him. ... Malik’s one of one. So when you have a guy like that on the field, you have all the confidence in the world that he can just be a dominant game-changer.”
Dart, making his first NFL start, launched a deep pass down the right sideline — a free play after the Chargers' Troy Dye jumped offside — toward a streaking Nabers. The wide receiver's right leg appeared to buckle as he went up to try to catch the pass, which fell incomplete.
Nabers, down at the Chargers 7 with 6:12 left before halftime, immediately grabbed at his right leg and was clearly in pain. Trainers rushed out to attend to Nabers, who was on the receiving end of Dart's first NFL completion earlier in the game.
Several of Nabers' teammates, including benched quarterback Russell Wilson, surrounded him before he was lifted onto the cart. Nabers had his hands over his head as the cart sped away, but he then raised his right arm to acknowledge the Giants fans cheering for him.
The team ruled Nabers out for the rest of the game in the third quarter, and the Giants were awaiting the results of tests.
“Obviously, it hurts, because the worst part of this game is injuries,” Dart said. “You hate to see your teammate, your brother, go down and look in pain like that. But I’m just going to be praying for him and I got his back through it all.”
The non-contact injury prompted former Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to take to social media to urge the NFL to remove artificial turf fields, especially at MetLife Stadium — where he played his home games during his first five seasons.
“Dear @NFL, I mean this with the upmost love and respect,” Beckham wrote on X. “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 TURF. Thank You in advance. LUV.”
Beckham, a free agent who last played with Miami last season, followed with another post a few minutes later, referring to MetLife Stadium as "DeathLife" and urging the league to ensure that turf is "at the HIGHEST of quality possible."
The playing surface at the home of the Giants and Jets has been a frequent target of criticism in recent years after several players were injured during games. The turf was replaced before the 2023 season.
Nabers, a first-round pick last year out of LSU, caught a franchise-record 109 passes — also an NFL mark for a rookie — for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns last season and was selected for the Pro Bowl. He had two catches for 20 yards Sunday, giving him 16 receptions for 251 yards and two touchdowns in four games.
Dart also dealt with a few injury issues in his starting debut, but said he was “good” after the win.
The quarterback was listed with a hamstring injury coming out of halftime, but continued to play. On New York's opening drive of the third quarter, he took a big hit after a 39-yard run — that was negated by a holding penalty — and was checked for a concussion. He missed two plays, but was cleared and returned to the game.
“I was (ticked off),” Dart said. "I don’t want to see anybody try to sprint 70 yards as hard as you can and then you’ve got to run back and get ready for the next play. You’re going to be tired. That’s all it was. I was just tired.
“Obviously, I never want to come out of the game.”
Giants safety Jevon Holland left in the second quarter with a neck injury, but also returned.
The Chargers lost left tackle Joe Alt, who was carted off in the first quarter with an ankle injury. He was replaced by Austin Deculus. Coach Jim Harbaugh had no immediate update on Alt after the game.
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