EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Malik Nabers is confident he will boost the Giants' offense when he returns to the field Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles after missing two games with a concussion.

"I'm a focal point when I'm out there," Nabers said. "The defense makes different calls when I'm out there. So, not having me, it made it a little bit harder for those guys. Just having me out there, just the presence that I am out there, knowing the defense knows I can make plays, it helps other guys make plays also."

The Giants' offense had two decidedly different performances in Nabers' absence.

Two weeks ago in Seattle, the team had season-high totals of 29 points (including one special teams touchdown) and 420 yards in a 9-point victory in Seattle. Last Sunday night, the yardage total dropped to 309 and the Giants scored just once in a 17-7 loss to Cincinnati. It was their first touchdown this season in MetLife Stadium, where they look to earn their first victory after three defeats.

Nabers hopes his presence improves that situation. Despite missing those two games, he still leads the Giants with 386 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Wan'Dale Robinson jumped past him and now has a team-high 37 catches, two more than Nabers. Robinson is second in the NFL with 58 targets, six more than Nabers.

When he was injured late in the fourth quarter against Dallas on Sept. 26, Nabers led the league in targets and catches and was second in yards. Quarterback Daniel Jones will certainly look for Nabers regularly against the Eagles.

"There's no doubt he's been a big part of our offense so far, and someone who we've counted on in a lot of spots," Jones said.

Nabers was officially limited in practice Friday due to tightness he had in his groin late Thursday. But he was not listed in the game status portion of the injury report and said after the workout, "I'm ready to go."

He said the groin is not an issue.

"I've been dealing with it for so long, so it's just becoming a normal thing," he said. "I've been playing through it since college."

The concussion, however, was his first.

"It was scary when I couldn't remember what happened or couldn't remember like the last play I was in," he said.

But it's not like a groin injury, Nabers knew he had to be patient. He was cleared by an independent neurological consultant yesterday, three weeks to the day from suffering the injury.

"My health is really the most important thing, so I really wasn't frustrated," he said. "It was just getting back out there when I feel right. The trainers did a well job of having me answer a lot of questions to see if I was back to normal, so having those guys, the process was easy, but I really wanted to be out there."

Nabers did concede it was "pretty tough" not to play. "Watching plays being made, not being out there to compete – it hurts," he said.

He switched helmets to help prevent sustaining another concussion.

"They just insisted that this helmet would protect my head better," Nabers said. "They insisted it before the season, but I like the helmet that I was wearing before. So, it's just making precautions for when I'm out there now. "

This will be Nabers' first game against the Eagles, arguably the Giants' fiercest rivals. What are his expectations?

"Just play ball, really," he said. "A game is a game. I know everybody says it's a big game, but every game is a big game to me. It's a good opportunity for me."

The Giants need him to capitalize on it.

*Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo made his first public comments since left tackle Andrew Thomas suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury last week. Thomas underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve this week.

"Firstly, you feel awful for Andrew," Bricillo said. "Just a tremendous player, but even a better person and teammate. He does everything the right way. A hundred percent participation in the summer. When he gets a break, he goes back and he's working with a personal trainer. You're sick to your stomach for him as an individual and as a player."

Coach Brian Daboll declined to say who will start for Thomas.

"We'll go through practice today," Daboll said. "(Joshua) Ezeudu has taken a considerable amount of reps on the left side. Jermaine (Eluemunor) is on his right side, but you have to balance it, too. We'll play him on the left at times, and (tackle) Evan (Neal) has played on the right side."

Bricillo was asked about the growth of Ezeudu, who started five games last season before suffering a season-ending toe injury.

"He's demonstrated the capacity to improve on his power and on his balance," Bricillo said. "We've moved him around, he's played tackle, he's played guard for us, he's played the jumbo tight end.

We kind of got a thing in our room about, don't celebrate doing what's expected. Josh is now a third-year player. You kind of expect him to start to get into that wheelhouse of improving. O-line is a developmental position. He's continued to develop and improve."

*Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence (hip) and linebacker Brian Burns (groin) practiced for the first time this week, on a limited basis, and were listed as questionable for the game. Safety Dane Belton did not practice because of illness and is also questionable.

*The Giants announced that cornerback Adoree' Jackson (neck) and punter Jamie Gillan will not play Sunday against Philadelphia. Neither played last week.

*The Giants filled the roster spot created when Thomas was placed on I.R. by signing veteran offensive lineman Chris Hubbard off the San Francisco 49es' practice squad. They received intel on Hubbard from tight ends coach Tim Kelly, who was with him last season in Tennessee.

Hubbard, 6-4 and 295 pounds, has played in 94 regular-season games with 58 starts in 10 seasons for Pittsburgh (four years), Cleveland (five) and Tennessee (one). He made 55 starts at right tackle, two as an extra tackle, and one as a tight end. In 2023 with the Titans, Hubbard started all nine games in which he played at right tackle. He also played in six postseason games for the Steelers from 2015-17.

Hubbard entered the NFL as a rookie free agent from Alabama at Birmingham in 2014.