EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New York Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers is not participating in practice while dealing with a toe injury.
Coach Brian Daboll said Wednesday the team is simply being cautious with Nabers, who Daboll said has had an issue with the toe since his college days at LSU.
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New York Giants' quarterback Russell Wilson, left, and Malik Nabers talk as they walk off the field after an NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll speaks to reporters before NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants' Bobby Okereke talks to reporters after an NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants quarterbacks Jameis Winston, left, greets Jaxson Dart during an NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants' Malik Nabers, right, talks with quarterback Russell Wilson as they walk off the field after NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“Malik will be out here today, but he won’t be participating,” Daboll said before the Giants' second practice of organized team activities and first open to reporters. “We’re being mindful of his toe that he’s had. Nothing serious, but we’re being smart with him in terms of the rehab part of it. So that’s where we’re at.”
Daboll didn't detail the nature of the injury, but said Nabers didn't need any procedures on his toe during the offseason.
“They have a plan,” Daboll said. “Our doctors, our trainers, if you will, have a plan to kind of move him along and he’s been doing a good job with that.”
Nabers was the sixth overall pick in the NFL draft last year after setting LSU's career record for yards receiving with 3,003 in three seasons. He followed that by catching an NFL rookie-record 109 passes for New York last season, setting the franchise mark for most receptions in a season. Nabers also tied former Giants star Odell Beckham Jr. for the NFL record for fewest games needed for 100 career catches, reaching the milestone in just 14 contests.
He was able to accomplish that despite having an unsettled quarterback situation last season with Daniel Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito all starting games.
Russell Wilson, signed to a one-year deal worth up to $21 million with $10.5 million guaranteed, is expected to be the starter this upcoming season. DeVito returns, but New York also signed veteran Jameis Winston and drafted former Mississippi star Jaxson Dart with the 25th overall pick.
All four quarterbacks took snaps at practice, with mostly Wilson working with the starters. He threw a touchdown pass to Darius Slayton in 11-on-11 drills. Dart also took three snaps with the starters.
It's uncertain when Nabers will get on the field to participate in practice with his new quarterbacks, but Daboll was not concerned.
“He’s had it for a while, back in college, too,” the coach said. “So just trying to be smart.”
Daboll said the Giants have “good attendance” for OTAs, but said a few unnamed players had a stomach virus and were sitting out Wednesday. Left tackle Andrew Thomas (foot) is rehabilitating his injury, as is safety Anthony Johnson (shoulder).
“It’s May, so it’s important that they progress so we can get them ready for training camp here,” Daboll said. “And if they’re ready to go later on in this process, then they’ll do what they can do.”
Linebacker Bobby Okereke is back on the practice field after missing the final five games of last season with a herniated disk that he at first tried to play through.
“Yeah, pretty scary disk injury,” Okereke said. “I was feeling some nerve pain. Couldn’t really sit for a couple of weeks. It’s the type of injury you need to come back better or worse from. So I just feel fortunate with the medical staff, training staff here, took real good care of me, and I feel back and better than ever.”
Okereke, who played every defensive snap in 2023, didn't need surgery to repair the injury but had plenty of rest and rehabilitation. The Giants’ defensive captain heads into his third season with New York and is happy to be “flying around” the practice field.
“Yeah, Bobby’s the leader, man,” said safety Jevon Holland, who signed as a free agent in the offseason. “He’s loud, he’s in control of everything. He’s the man in the middle, so he encompasses everything that I would see a middle linebacker.”
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New York Giants' quarterback Russell Wilson, left, and Malik Nabers talk as they walk off the field after an NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll speaks to reporters before NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants' Bobby Okereke talks to reporters after an NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants quarterbacks Jameis Winston, left, greets Jaxson Dart during an NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York Giants' Malik Nabers, right, talks with quarterback Russell Wilson as they walk off the field after NFL football practice in East Rutherford, N.J., Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he’s dropping — for now — his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, a move that comes after legal roadblocks held up the effort.
“We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!" he said in a social media post Wednesday.
Governors typically control states' National Guardsmen, and Trump had deployed troops to all three cities against the wishes of state and local Democratic leaders. He said it was necessary as part of a broader crackdown on immigration, crime and protests.
The president has made a crackdown on crime in cities a centerpiece of his second term — and has toyed with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to stop his opponents from using the courts to block his plans. He has said he sees his tough-on-crime approach as a winning political issue ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Troops had already left Los Angeles after the president deployed them earlier this year as part of a broader crackdown on crime and immigration.
In his post, Trump said the troops' presence was responsible for a drop in crime in the three cities, though they were never on the streets in Chicago and Portland as legal challenges played out. When the Chicago deployment was challenged in court, a Justice Department lawyer said the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal properties and government agents in the field, not “solving all of crime in Chicago.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson’s office in a statement said the city’s reduction in crime was due to the efforts of local police and public safety programs. Chicago officials echoed the sentiment, saying in a release Tuesday that the city had 416 homicides in 2025 — the fewest since 2014.
Trump’s push to deploy the troops in Democrat-led cities has been met with legal challenges at nearly every turn.
The Supreme Court in December refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area. The order was not a final ruling but was a significant and rare setback by the high court for the president’s efforts.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on X Wednesday that Trump “lost in court when Illinois stood up against his attempt to militarize American cities with the National Guard. Now Trump is forced to stand down.”
Hundreds of troops from California and Oregon were deployed to Portland, but a federal judge barred them from going on the streets. A judge permanently blocked the deployment of National Guard troops there in November after a three-day trial.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Wednesday that her office had not yet received “official notification that the remaining federalized Oregon National Guard troops can return home. They were never lawfully deployed to Portland and there was no need for their presence. If President Trump has finally chosen to follow court orders and demobilize our troops, that’s a big win for Oregonians and for the rule of law.”
Trump's decision to federalize National Guard troops began in Los Angeles in June, when protesters took to the streets in response to a blitz of immigration arrests in the area. He deployed about 4,000 troops and 700 Marines to guard federal buildings and, later, to protest federal agents as they carried out immigration arrests.
The number of troops slowly dwindled until just several hundred were left. They were removed from the streets by Dec. 15 after a lower court ruling that also ordered control to be returned to Gov. Gavin Newsom. But an appeals court had paused the second part of the order, meaning control remained with Trump. In a Tuesday court filing, the Trump administration said it was no longer seeking a pause in that part of the order.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to return control of the National Guard to Newsom.
“About time (Trump) admitted defeat,” Newsom said in a social media post. “We’ve said it from day one: the federal takeover of California’s National Guard is illegal.”
Troops will remain on the ground in several other cities. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December paused a lower court ruling that had called for an end to the deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., where they’ve been deployed since August after Trump declared a “crime emergency.”
Trump also ordered the deployment of the Tennessee National Guard to Memphis in September as part of a larger federal task force to combat crime, a move supported by the state’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee and senators. A Tennessee judge blocked the use of the Guard, siding with Democratic state and local officials who sued. However, the judge stayed the decision to block the Guard as the state appeals, allowing the deployment to continue.
In New Orleans, about 350 National Guard troops deployed by Trump arrived in the city's historic French Quarter on Tuesday and are set to stay through Mardi Gras to help with safety. The state's Republican governor and the city's Democratic mayor support the deployment.
Ding reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporters John O'Connor in Springfield, Illinois, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, Jack Brook in New Orleans and Adrian Sanz in Memphis contributed.
FILE - A protester confronts a line of U.S. National Guard members in the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, File)
FILE - Protesters stand off against California National Guard soldiers at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, during a "No Kings" protest, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
