One day ago, Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers called himself a “game-time decision’’ whether he would be able to play Sunday’s home finale against the Colts at MetLife Stadium because of a toe injury.
On Friday, Nabers practiced for the first time all week and it looks pretty certain that he’ll be cleared to play.
He’s officially listed as questionable for the game.
Rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., who also had not practiced until Friday with an ankle injury, was officially cleared to play when his name was not even on the injury report released Friday afternoon.
Nabers, with 97 receptions, needs three more to reach the magical 100 mark and he needs 31 yards to reach 1,000 receiving yards.
Giants coach Brian Daboll said before Friday’s practice that he was “hopeful” both rookies would be ready for Sunday’s game.
Nabers participated in the early portion of practice open to the media and was moving without any noticeable limitations.
“Any opportunity I have to go out there on the football field and play with my brothers, whether I’m nicked up or not,” Nabers said Thursday. “I know a lot of guys are battling a lot of injuries in the facility and in the building right now [and] they still continue to go out there and ball.
“I’m going to be right there with those guys if I can and continue to go out there with those guys and ball out.”
Tracy, a fifth-round pick out of Purdue, has 721 yards rushing in 15 games and 10 starts and is just 16 yards shy of reaching 1,000 total yards from scrimmage.
Players who won’t play Sunday include starting center John Michael Schmitz (ankle), linebacker Micah McFadden (neck), cornerback Greg Stroman Jr. (shin and shoulder) and safety Raheem Layne (knee).
With Schmitz out, the Giants will be playing their ninth different offensive line combination of the season, which will tie them with New England for the NFL’s highest total.
The Giants used 10 starting combinations in the 2023 season.
McFadden leads the team with 107 tackles (60 solo), which means the Giants will be without their three leading tacklers with linebacker Bobby Okereke (back) and safety Tyler Nubin (ankle) already on IR and out for the season.
Colts second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson hasn’t practiced all week with back and foot injuries, which means the Giants almost certainly will face 39-year-old veteran Joe Flacco.
Whether that’s good news or bad news for the Giants is debatable.
Richardson has completed only 47.7 percent of his passes and has thrown eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Flacco is completing 66.5 percent and has nine TD passes to five INTs.
Daboll said there will be some chance to play inside linebacker Dyontae Johnson in the game.
“He’ll have some opportunity, whether it’s in a kicking game or some defensive reps,” Daboll said. “He did a good job for us in the preseason. Intelligent player, has some athleticism to him.’’
Another linebacker who’ll see some action will be Ty Summers.
Daboll was asked what his “message’’ is to Giants fans, who have yet to see a win at MetLife Stadium this season (0-8 to date).
“We certainly appreciate the support,’’ Dabolll said. “You want to give them a better product in terms of the results that we’re putting out there right now, but [we] certainly appreciate them. [We’re] just trying to get a win here. That’s what we’re thinking about.’’
Giants safety Jason Pinnock has a pretty good idea what the Colts’ game plan will center around Sunday considering they rushed for a franchise-record 335 yards and threw only 11 passes in their last game, a 38-30 win over Tennessee.
“You don’t fix what’s not broken, so I assume they’re going to come and run the ball. Looking at the weather conditions [rain is in the forecast], J.T. [Colts running back Jonathan Taylor] is a good back, so I assume they’re going to try and use him.”
Indeed, Taylor rushed for 218 yards and three TDs, including 65 and 70-yarders last weekend, and was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
The Giants are yielding 142.6 rushing yards a game, ranked second to last in the league.
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