After months of speculation and ambiguous updates, there is finally some concrete news on Malik Nabers’ status: The New York Giants’ wide receiver isn’t on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as training camp opens on Wednesday.That’s an unquestionably positive development after pessimism was pervasive during Nabers’ recovery from the torn ACL and torn meniscus he suffered in his right knee in Week 4 last season. A second “clean-up” surgery during the spring to remove scar tissue that was causing stiffness led to even more concern about Nabers’ timeline.Avoiding the PUP list is encouraging for Nabers’ potential to be ready for the Sept. 13 season opener against the Cowboys. But there are still no assurances, and it shouldn’t be interpreted that Nabers is 100 percent healthy.It’s important to understand how the PUP list works. If a player starts training camp on the active/PUP list, he still occupies a spot on the 90-man roster. If the player remains on the PUP list on cut day (Aug. 30), he shifts to the reserve/PUP list and no longer counts on the active roster. Players on the reserve/PUP list must sit out at least the first four games of the season.A player must be put on the PUP list before the start of camp. Teams often put players with existing injuries on the PUP list as an insurance policy and then activate them when they’re ready to practice.Players on the PUP list are restricted to working on the sidelines with trainers during practice. By keeping Nabers off the PUP list, the Giants have the flexibility to integrate him into practice as he progresses. He will have a reduced workload early in camp, but the team will have the freedom to determine his participation on a day-to-day basis. Even getting limited work in practices will be beneficial as Nabers adjusts to a new offensive system.The Giants have been targeting a Week 1 return for Nabers, so they obviously didn’t prioritize the ability to potentially shift him to the reserve/PUP list. And even if Nabers isn’t ready for the opener, the Giants can simply evaluate him weekly rather than locking in a four-game absence.Star left tackle Andrew Thomas spent the first four weeks of training camp last year on the PUP list. He was activated from the PUP list almost three weeks before the opener, and his practice workload was ramped up gradually. Thomas missed the first two games before making his debut in Week 3. Thomas’ timeline is obviously different from Nabers’, but it illustrates the benefit of keeping a star player off the PUP list, even if he’s not ready for the opener.Of course, the Giants are hoping Nabers’ earlier start to practice this summer has him ready for Week 1. Avoiding the PUP list was a promising first step, but it’s not the final checkpoint. It will be a gradual process for Nabers and, barring any setbacks, it’s fair to have optimism that he’ll be in the lineup against the Cowboys.Not ready yetThe Giants announced three players as starting camp on the PUP list: Tight end Thomas Fidone, who underwent a clean-up surgery in June on the foot injury that ended his rookie season prematurely; defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris, who tore his Achilles in May; and defensive tackle Sam Roberts, who missed the spring after undergoing an undisclosed surgery.Robertson-Harris hasn’t been put on injured reserve yet because there’s a chance he could return late in the season. But it’s unlikely that the team will be able to preserve a roster spot for the rotational defensive tackle until cut day as injuries mount during camp. It’s not clear what the timeline is for Fidone or Roberts, but both players enter camp on the outside of the roster bubble.In another promising development, wide receiver Darius Slayton wasn’t placed on the PUP list after missing most of the spring due to sports hernia surgery.Durability issues?Running back Cam Skattebo is also not on the PUP list, although that’s not a surprise since he participated in minicamp practices in June. Skattebo, who suffered a gruesome ankle injury in Week 8 last season, caused a stir when he stumbled while landing a backflip recently. Skattebo will expose himself to plenty of injury risk simply playing running back, so there’s no reason for him to continue the attention-seeking backflips.Skattebo’s injury was a freak accident based on the way his foot got trapped under his body as he got wrapped up by Eagles linebacker Zack Baun. But questions about Skattebo’s durability were voiced by league sources throughout the offseason.“He’s a great piece, but he’s not a premier first- and second-down back in this league,” an assistant who was a candidate for a role on the Giants’ staff told The Athletic. “The way that guy plays is not sustainable, and you’re limited in the scheme you can run with him in the run game.”Skattebo will need to work back into football shape early in camp and re-establish his standing as the team’s top running back. Running back is a sneaky position that could be upgraded before the season. The Giants don’t have much behind Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr., and neither of those players has proven that they’re high-level NFL backs.A grueling camp awaitsIt’s ironic that coach John Harbaugh’s first training camp is being conducted at one of the most luxurious resorts in the country because the practices at The Greenbrier in West Virginia promise to be significantly more taxing than the country club atmosphere fostered by former coach Brian Daboll.It’s not hard to measure how much more grueling Harbaugh’s camp will be. Starting on Wednesday, the Giants will have practices on four straight days to open camp. After a day off on Sunday, the Giants will have six straight practices, which is the maximum amount of consecutive practices allowed by the CBA. Daboll never held practices on more than three straight days during his camps.The extra days off add up over the 5-1/2 weeks a team has to practice from the start of training camp until a mandatory three-day break for Labor Day weekend. Daboll conducted 19 practices during that stretch last season compared to 23 practices scheduled for Harbaugh. That’s a significant increase considering how restricted practice time has become under recent CBAs.Daboll placed a premium on keeping players healthy during the preseason, which was an understandable objective. But his teams didn’t appear ready to play while getting off to dreadful starts in each of the past three seasons.Harbaugh has an old-school approach, but he won’t run a Bear Bryant-style Junction Boys camp. Harbaugh’s reliance on sports science will govern how hard he pushes players, but it will be an unmistakably more challenging experience for returning Giants.“Guys who think they’re going to go in that building and continue to do what they’ve been doing don’t understand what’s about to happen,” one of Harbaugh’s former players told The Athletic this offseason. “It’s either you get along with it, or he’s going to get your a— out of there. It’s going to be a rude awakening for a lot of guys. I think a lot of guys need a guy like Harbs, who is going to truly work them and turn them into great players because that building has so much talent. It just needs someone like a Harbs to mold it into a winning product, which I think he will.”Is Jaxson Dart more in the Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky range?Robert Mays and Derrik KlassenTop-10 talentsThe annual ranking of the top 10 players at every position compiled by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler is a highlight of the summer. It’s the gold standard of rankings because it’s based on the evaluations of more than 70 executives, coaches and scouts.The Giants had two players crack the top 10 at their position: Thomas was voted the eighth-best offensive tackle, and Brian Burns was voted the ninth-best edge rusher. Fowler includes an honorable mention section for every player who receives a vote at each position. Nabers (11th at wide receiver), Isaiah Likely (17th at tight end), Tremaine Edmunds (No. 15 at inside linebacker) and Jevon Holland (No. 23 at safety) were the other Giants to receive votes.Thomas moved up two spots from No. 10 a year ago after appearing in 13 games in a bounce-back season. Another healthy season could propel the 27-year-old further up the rankings.Burns cracked the top 10 after finishing 11th in the voting last year. Burns was second in the NFL with a career-high 16.5 sacks last season, but after reaching double digits in sacks only once in the previous six seasons, it’s clear evaluators will need to see a repeat performance to move the 28-year-old further up the rankings.Nabers ranked No. 7 last year, but he dropped out of the top 10 after missing 13 games. He’s a lock to return to the top 10 as long as he’s healthy. Likely (No. 8) and Edmunds (No. 6) were in the top 10 a year ago with their previous teams. Likely set career lows with 27 catches for 307 yards and one touchdown last season, but the Giants are banking on the 26-year-old to break out now that he’s removed from Mark Andrews’ shadow in Baltimore. Edmunds remained productive last season, but the Chicago Bears didn’t deem him worthy of his $17.4 million cap hit, so they cut him for $15 million in cap savings. Holland dropped from the 11th-ranked safety to No. 23 after an underwhelming first season in New York.The Giants are paying Likely (three years, $40 million) and Edmunds (three years, $36 million) to be top-10 players. It would be huge for young players like edge rusher Abdul Carter and, ideally, quarterback Jaxson Dart to enter the top-10 conversation this season.