In Week 4, Giants receiver Malik Nabers suffered a torn ACL during a victory over the Chargers. Exactly one month later, Nabers underwent surgery to repair the injury.
Via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com, Cowboys’ team physician Dr. Daniel E. Cooper [performed the procedure on Tuesday](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46762113/giants-malik-nabers-undergoes-surgery-repair-torn-acl).
The surgery, per Raanan, was deemed a success. (As virtually every surgery ever performed on a professional athlete is.)
The delay was intended to allow swelling to subside, and to permit Nabers to perform so-called “prehab.”
Nabers is expected to be ready to go when the 2026 season begins.
The injury renewed concerns regarding the turf at MetLife Stadium, and it reignited the debate regarding real grass vs. fake grass.
The league typically has stats at the ready to support the notion that the injury rates are no different, regardless of the playing surface. The players (you know, the ones who have to do their jobs on the fields) strongly prefer high-quality grass, where the forces created by the various moves and cuts will be absorbed by the ground. On artificial surfaces, the forces ricochet back into the players’ bodies.
In the end, not much will change. It’s fundamentally a matter of collective bargaining. And the league would want a lot from the players in exchange for a commitment to install, and to maintain, high-quality grass in every stadium — especially in stadiums that have fixed roof and/or that are used for a variety of non-NFL events.