Why Malik Nabers still hasn’t had surgery one month after tearing ACL

Malik Nabers isn’t ghosting the Giants or in denial about his season being over.

Tuesday marked one month since Nabers tore his ACL and the stud receiver still has not undergone reconstructive surgery, though it is supposed to happen soon.

Why the delay?

“Some players will have a very significant amount of swelling after this injury and operating on them right away can actually lead to significant stiffness down the line because it’s an additional trauma to the knee – even though it’s being done for good,” Dr. Guillem Gonzalez-Lomas, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told The Post.

“It actually ends up speeding up recovery to wait until the knee is very quiet – not a lot of swelling and range of motion is essentially full, when the knee feels almost normal other than the instability through the ACL. It sounds counterintuitive, but in the long run it limits the risk for complications related to the surgery.”

Nabers also suffered a partially torn meniscus when he tore his ACL, according to The Athletic.

Former Giants star Saquon Barkley suffered a similar double whammy – plus an MCL sprain – in 2020 and eventually returned to top form.

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“It’s very common to sustain a meniscus tear in addition to the ACL tear,” said Gonzalez-Lomas, who has not treated Nabers. “If it just needs to be trimmed, it doesn’t add much to the complexity. If you add the meniscus repair, you are going to have to add a little more restriction to the post-operative course.

“The athlete would not be able to put full weight on the knee for 4-6 weeks – up to eight depending on the tear. If they can’t put full weight on it, they would be a little further behind the 8-ball in terms of ACL recovery. Usually over the first two months, even if you repair the meniscus, the knee catches up to where it would’ve been.”

So, while running back Cam Skattebo should be on the field for the start of 2026 training camp after Sunday’s emergency surgery to repair a dislocated ankle – barring an infection or other complications associated with what is thought to have been an open wound – Nabers’ timeline could be delayed.

“The typical return to play for an ACL injury is about 9-12 months,” Gonzalez-Lomas said. “You’d really be right at the beginning of the window. I think he would be back to doing training on the field. Whether or not he is ready to actually play in July or the next few months is still up in the air.”