WR Malik Nabers
Wilson and the rest of the quarterback room enjoyed plenty of success during the preseason, despite the absence of the team's top playmaker. Malik Nabers sat out the three exhibition games as he got his body prepared for this weekend and the start of the regular season. Now good to go for Week 1, Nabers is excited to hit the ground running.
"It's definitely a relief, I can focus more on different routes, watching clips of DBs, understanding how to get open, having that explosiveness," the star wideout said about feeling healthy for the start of the season. "I can finally get to use it this year and not look crazy on film after watching it and knowing I was hurting. So, kind of go out there and play 100 percent, run full speed, I'm even faster than I was last year so it's going to be exciting to see."
Nabers is coming off a historic rookie campaign, one that saw him set a new franchise single-season reception record with 109 grabs, which he took for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. The young wideout finished among the league leaders in numerous receiving categories, as he also set a new NFL record for receptions by a rookie wide receiver.
With two road matchups against NFC East opponents to start the season, Nabers knows how important it is for the Giants to get off to a strong start.
"I would say it starts now," said Nabers. "It's a division rival, we got to come out and get this win first. It adds to winning our division, so we have to take those guys serious. They turned the program around, we're building something great over here so we have to go out there, we can't mess around with them, just put them to bed early."
DL Dexter Lawrence
Similar to Nabers, the Giants also held their star defensive lineman out of the preseason. Dexter Lawrence's 2024 campaign was cut short due to an elbow injury, which led to the team being cautious with the 6-foot-4, 340-pound lineman this summer. Lawrence has been participating in practice for several weeks now as the three-time Pro Bowler is ramping up for Sunday's game.
"During the summer I was dealing with an elbow so I was just watching the defense a lot but I was doing a lot on the side, running and striking things and getting back so I could be able to participate in practice and I did that through the summer and I'm feeling good now," Lawrence said on Wednesday. "I went outside and ran around a little bit. It felt good and it's Week 1. We got to show up and the guys are ready, I'm ready and we got to keep preparing."
He later added, "I feel good. It's been a ramp up and honestly, I didn't get the amount of reps that I've been getting but the ramp up has helped me, keep increasing plays here and there and seeing how I feel here and there. I feel good and I'm ready to go."
The star lineman was in the midst of a career year before suffering an elbow injury. Lawrence racked up a career-high nine sacks and eight tackles for loss in just 12 games last season. He registered at least one quarterback hit in nine of the 12 games while on the field for 73.0 percent of the team's defensive snaps.
We've heard the praise about the Giants' pass rush all offseason. Now that Week 1 is finally here, Lawrence is looking forward to the defense getting the chance to carry over its strong play from the preseason.
"Just our dominance on every play," Lawrence said on what he wants the defense to establish this Sunday. "The way we communicate on the field, the way we run to the ball, the way we tackle, the way we do the simple things better. I think that's the biggest thing that our growth has been so far in this camp and I'm enjoying being a part of it. It's pushing me even more, just giving me a lot more motivation and a lot more just to see the guys show their love and care for the game and it's been good."