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Players to watch in Week 1 divisional matchup

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Week 1 is finally here.

The Giants are just a few days away from taking the field in Washington for their season opener against the Commanders.

Following a dominant preseason, the Giants will look to keep it going in the regular season as they begin back-to-back games against NFC East opponents.

Here are five players to watch in Sunday's divisional matchup.

QB Russell Wilson

The Giants returned 10 of 11 starters on offense this season, with one big exception coming at the quarterback position. Enter Russell Wilson. The veteran signal-caller appeared in the first two preseason games and finished 10 of 14 for 136 yards, including one moon ball completion to Beaux Collins for an 80-yard gain. Wilson's famous deep ball was a common occurrence at practice throughout training camp.

"He has a good feel for arc and pace on the football relative to guys running down the field, where he needs to put it, where to throw it away from defenders, where to put it on the sideline," coach Brian Daboll said. "Again, he's done it for quite some time. Obviously, that's part of his game, but there's a lot of other areas of his game that he does well, too."

Wilson is now set to make his official Giants debut this Sunday after spending last season with the Steelers. After missing the first six games due to a calf injury, Wilson started the final 11 games of the season for Pittsburgh, where he completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions, which earned him a passer rating of 95.6. He also added 43 carries for 155 yards and two additional touchdowns.

With the season opener finally here, Wilson is ready to get his Giants career started.

"It's my 14th season," Wilson told the media Wednesday. "I'm blessed to be able to do what I love to do. I've got so much energy, so much belief, and so much confidence in who we are, what we can do, who we are as a team. This team has got a lot of great talent and a lot of great guys, high character guys, a lot of will, a lot of want to, and a lot of determination to do it the right way."

See the best photos from Wednesday's practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

WR Malik Nabers

Wilson and the rest of the quarterback room enjoyed plenty of success during the preseason, despite the absence of the team's top playmaker. Malik Nabers sat out the three exhibition games as he got his body prepared for this weekend and the start of the regular season. Now good to go for Week 1, Nabers is excited to hit the ground running.

"It's definitely a relief, I can focus more on different routes, watching clips of DBs, understanding how to get open, having that explosiveness," the star wideout said about feeling healthy for the start of the season. "I can finally get to use it this year and not look crazy on film after watching it and knowing I was hurting. So, kind of go out there and play 100 percent, run full speed, I'm even faster than I was last year so it's going to be exciting to see."

Nabers is coming off a historic rookie campaign, one that saw him set a new franchise single-season reception record with 109 grabs, which he took for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. The young wideout finished among the league leaders in numerous receiving categories, as he also set a new NFL record for receptions by a rookie wide receiver.

With two road matchups against NFC East opponents to start the season, Nabers knows how important it is for the Giants to get off to a strong start.

"I would say it starts now," said Nabers. "It's a division rival, we got to come out and get this win first. It adds to winning our division, so we have to take those guys serious. They turned the program around, we're building something great over here so we have to go out there, we can't mess around with them, just put them to bed early."

DL Dexter Lawrence

Similar to Nabers, the Giants also held their star defensive lineman out of the preseason. Dexter Lawrence's 2024 campaign was cut short due to an elbow injury, which led to the team being cautious with the 6-foot-4, 340-pound lineman this summer. Lawrence has been participating in practice for several weeks now as the three-time Pro Bowler is ramping up for Sunday's game.

"During the summer I was dealing with an elbow so I was just watching the defense a lot but I was doing a lot on the side, running and striking things and getting back so I could be able to participate in practice and I did that through the summer and I'm feeling good now," Lawrence said on Wednesday. "I went outside and ran around a little bit. It felt good and it's Week 1. We got to show up and the guys are ready, I'm ready and we got to keep preparing."

He later added, "I feel good. It's been a ramp up and honestly, I didn't get the amount of reps that I've been getting but the ramp up has helped me, keep increasing plays here and there and seeing how I feel here and there. I feel good and I'm ready to go."

The star lineman was in the midst of a career year before suffering an elbow injury. Lawrence racked up a career-high nine sacks and eight tackles for loss in just 12 games last season. He registered at least one quarterback hit in nine of the 12 games while on the field for 73.0 percent of the team's defensive snaps.

We've heard the praise about the Giants' pass rush all offseason. Now that Week 1 is finally here, Lawrence is looking forward to the defense getting the chance to carry over its strong play from the preseason.

"Just our dominance on every play," Lawrence said on what he wants the defense to establish this Sunday. "The way we communicate on the field, the way we run to the ball, the way we tackle, the way we do the simple things better. I think that's the biggest thing that our growth has been so far in this camp and I'm enjoying being a part of it. It's pushing me even more, just giving me a lot more motivation and a lot more just to see the guys show their love and care for the game and it's been good."

OLB Abdul Carter

One of the most anticipated debuts this weekend will be that of rookie outside linebacker Abdul Carter. The No. 3 overall pick looked dominant at times this summer. In his preseason debut against the Bills, Carter rushed the passer three times and recorded a pressure on each play, including two against four-time Pro Bowl tackle Dion Dawkins. His ability to bend the corner and immediately get into the quarterback's face was on display throughout training camp, and now he gets the opportunity to showcase his pass rushing skills in an actual game.

"I think he's going to show everybody why we picked him that high," Nabers said about Carter's NFL debut. "He's going to show all his athleticism, all his power moves and stuff like that, he's going to make some tackles and run down some people so I'm excited to see him."

Carter was nothing short of outstanding in his final season at Penn State. He led the nation with 24 tackles for loss to go with his 12.0 sacks and four passes defensed on his way to being named Unanimous All-American. What made this even more impressive is that last year was his first full season lining up on the edge at Penn State. Prior to the 2024 campaign, Carter played off-ball linebacker for the Nittany Lions, which further highlights the 21-year-old's versatility.

Regardless of where he lines up on Sunday, Carter, along with the rest of the defensive front, will be tasked with containing Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. The second-year signal-caller is coming off an explosive first season that saw him take home the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Daniels already established himself as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL with his 3,568 passing yards and 891 rushing yards last year.

"He definitely can keep up with Jayden," Nabers added about the rookie pass rusher. "He's got some wheels on him. He isn't faster than me but Jayden isn't faster than me so I know he can keep up with him."

CB Paulson Adebo

Paulson Adebo is yet another defender set to make his Giants debut this weekend. The veteran cornerback was one of the first free agents the Giants reached a deal with during the negotiating period, bringing the 26-year-old to East Rutherford after four seasons in New Orleans.

During his time with the Saints, Adebo developed the reputation of being a ballhawk. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound corner had three or more interceptions in three of his four seasons in New Orleans, with 10 total to go with 43 passes defensed. In just 22 games over his final two seasons there, Adebo recorded seven interceptions and 28 pass breakups. In fact, prior to his season-ending leg injury in Week 7 of last season, the veteran had already racked up three interceptions and 10 passes defensed.

Adebo has a tough slate of wide receivers he'll be matched up against to open the season, starting this Sunday. Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin caught 82 passes for 1,096 yards in his first season with Jayden Daniels. However, the biggest boost in the wideout's numbers came in the touchdown department. After totaling 25 touchdowns total across his first five seasons, McLaurin found the end zone 13 times last season. Washington also upgraded its No. 2 wide receiver spot with the addition of Deebo Samuel. The veteran spent his first six seasons with the 49ers, where he was used in a variety of ways. While the Giants can use some of Samuel's 49ers tape to prepare for Sunday, they know that in a new system, it's difficult to predict exactly how Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury will use the playmaker.

"You don't ever really know with a guy coming over to a new team just because it's a brand new scheme and what not," cornerback Dru Phillips said on Monday. "You know who Deebo is. He's been a great player throughout the years and whatnot so you know his strengths but in Washington's offense, you're not sure. It'll be something that we can kind of assume but you won't know until we go play him."

View photos from the all-time series between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders.

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