Odell Beckham's Jr.'s Impact on Malik Nabers Before Giants Release Revealed in New NFL Rumors

Odell Beckham Jr. may have had an impact on the New York Giants' 2026 season despite recording no catches in three games prior to his release.

Beckham started off his return to the Giants by helping Malik Nabers complete his comeback from a major knee injury, The Athletic's Jonathan Jones reported Saturday.

"Beckham has been there for Nabers every step of the way, a team source tells me," Jones reported.

Jones added Beckham "has been huge for Nabers' confidence as he returned to action, drawing from Beckham's own experiences after he tore his ACL twice in his career."

Nabers suffered a torn ACL and damaged meniscus in Week 4 of last season. He initially underwent surgery in late October before undergoing a cleanup procedure during the offseason, per ESPN's Jordan Raanan.

He returned for Week 1 of the 2026 season, although his production has been limited in the wake of the season-ending injury Jaxson Dart suffered in Week 2.

Nabers said ahead of the Giants' Week 4 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals he was still working on establishing trust in his surgically-repaired knee.

"I want to do certain moves, but my mind is like, 'Ah, not yet'... [Darnell] Mooney talks to me about that. My teammates have been implementing confidence in me to just let go, just be free," Nabers said Thursday.

Beckham said ahead of the Giants' season opener he had spoken with Nabers about how there would be natural "fear and anxiety" involved in returning from a major knee injury, of which Beckham suffered two earlier in his NFL career.

"My advice for him is like, when you are ready and you feel it, that's when you come back," Beckham said ahead of Week 1 (h/t The Athletic's Dan Duggan). "But at the same point in time, you're not going to feel like your one thousand percent self until some point in the early, middle of the season. It's just something that takes time."

Nabers may no longer be teammates with Beckham, who he previously described as the reason he started watching football, but he could still look to carry that lesson into what could be a bounce-back performance against a struggling Cardinals passing defense this Sunday in East Rutherford.