WR Malik Nabers: ‘I'm just focusing on today’

0:00Well, Lee, how excited that opening game is finally here. Very excited, very excited. Happy. Mabry is finally a football tournament. How do you feel right now? How's your body? Feeling good, feeling good. You're not going to tell us if you're going to play or start an early next time? We're hard, see. Do you feel ready to play? Wait, why? I'm just focusing on today. How the really good day in practice is moving well. Shining in the right direction. Well, it seems like we're from talking to John. There's what the doctors say. They think there's a big, but a lot of this is you. And whether you feel personally, like you can go out there and play, at what point do you think you'll know the answer to that question? I'll let God tell me. I'll let God tell me, keeping my faith and he'll let me know and I'll know when it's time. We're asking for kickoff. I've been excellent in a long time. We got a plan. He got the plan. I'm just following. And his footsteps that he wanted me to take

1:01and lead me in the right direction. What was it like taking some obviously not being tackled with the ground, but taking some contact out here at the practice? It's always good to get a little contact, but the game speed is different. A gentleman is calling. But it's our crime. He makes split decisions on what you want to do with your body. And we'll see what happens. So you're fully yesterday for today. Probably going to be for tomorrow. So is there a world in which you could go for three days and not play? I mean, that's a possibility. I mean, like Harbs say, they're leaving the decision up on me, whatever I feel, whatever I come to the conclusion of, what made that decision? Believe what kind of hard work and focus did it take to get to this point to have an opportunity to rejoin your teammates? I mean, I grinded myself. I mean, excuse my language, but I grinded it, prayed hard, put in consistent amount of work early nights. I mean, early mornings, late nights.

2:04So I put in the work and I've did everything that I can to be in this position right now and be able to make the decision to player, or to not play. If I am out there, I put in a great amount of work to know that I'm able to play and I'm able to do exactly what I know I can do and will do. So just having that faith and taking it over. How exciting is it to get to this point? Very excited, very excited. What would you be able to play in this game if they said, hey, you're on a pitch count. Like, you're ready to play, but 30 snaps. Would you be willing to do that? Kind of like, half one toe in, one toe out. Yeah, like I say, if that's the case, and they're not letting the decision be on me, and I will come to them and tell them, I want to be on the pitch count. And I wouldn't want anyone to tell me, I'm going to be on the pitch count, because I didn't it is my career and it's my body. So if a pitch count is in the conversation,

3:08and I will lead that conversation on that decision would be on me. I believe you've taken contact. You've done the full practice now at this point. You started slow. You made it through with West Virginia to now. What is left for you to do for yourself to let you know if you're better not? Just overall, just feel the confidence on going out there. My confidence is high, but you have different confidence with a game. You can go out in practice and be able to perform, make plays, plays are designed for you to make. But in the game, you never know what you're going to see. You never know what you're going to get. So just having a confidence on 100%. I can go out there for sure and do what I want to do, do what I can do, and do what I want to do. So I just think that's going to, for me, it's having a confidence and making sure you know, I'm not being rushed or making sure the decision is really my. If you didn't think you were ready, would you really be able to not play in this game?

4:11I mean, there's got to be a part of you, too. That's obviously you want to go out, help the team win, not let the guys down. So would you really be able to do that? The decision is the decision. Everyone has to understand that, at the end of the day, it's my career. It's my body. And I know when I'm able to play, and I know when I'm able to do what I want to do. So everybody just got to live with the decision on what I want to do with my career. If you're on the studio, you're going to be able to play in this decision. That this point is fully yours, and we're not getting like pressure to go on my career. Do I feel like that? Yeah. Yeah. Dark to neighbors. Sunday night football against the Cowboys. Would that have a nice ring to it? Has a nice ring to it, for sure. How have you found that balance of just accepting a two-decision, I guess, coming to terms with your body and that desire to play as a kind of talk to this process, that that's the best sense? So you can see a lot of this. Coming to terms with accepting where your body is at

5:13versus wanting to play. Like how is that the process changed for you? Yeah, I mean, I've been wanting to play after I got hurt. So it's just, I've been wanting to play for so long now, but at the end of the day, you can't. I can't put my career at risk. I got to take that into accountability. There's a lot of football that I still have left to play. So making the split decision on one of my, one of my, one, do I think I'm able to go out there and perform rather than just going out there, I think the coaches know that and I know that, that I have a lot of more football to play. So just being conscious on making sure I'm at the right stand point of going back out there. What's your, where would you say your confidence level, when you're on the field is with me at this point? Like are you confident that you could do everything that you want to on it, like when you're the feel of it when you're playing? I mean, yeah, I'm very confident on my ability to move.

6:14So I'm very confident. Like I said, I put in great work. And I've tested well. I've done tremendous testing. So overall, I'm good. It's just, my confidence is there. It's just, when do I want to put that on display? Well, you can find it. I know it's your decision, but like family, friends, but anyone like that, you look to to help make the decision. They're not in this position. This position is mine. I'm in these shoes. I put on the cleats. I put on the helmet. So I can't really act someone else to make a decision for me. It's me. It's my life. It's my career. Is any part of this the fact that you guys want to keep the Cowboys guessing until 820 kickoff or are you genuinely still deciding whether or not? But I look at my face. You feel like that's what it is. I said, but I look at my face. You feel like that's what it is? No.

7:15I don't care who I play. I don't got no fear in nobody. I let them know I'm playing. If I'm playing, I let them not know if I'm playing. So if you see me out there, you see me out there. If not, you don't.