Giants rookie Malik Nabers didn’t have a catch in his first preseason game against the Detroit Lions. In fact, he didn’t even have a target during his 12 offensive snaps. That, to be sure, is not the plan going forward for the sixth overall pick in the 2024 draft.
Want to bet on the NFL? See the best NYC Sports Betting sites Playing for the first time with quarterback Daniel Jones, Nabers was heavily involved in the offense during the Giants’ 28-10 loss to the Houston Texans and he looked every bit like the receiver who has been so impressive during spring workouts and training camp. He finished with four catches for 54 yards, n one more spectacular than his 21-yard reception on a high back shoulder throw by Jones with 41 seconds left in the first half. Cornerback Kris Boyd had tight coverage on the play and Nabers did an incredible job of dragging his right foot down inbounds.
“I kind of thought the ball was going to be over the shoulder so I kind of had to make a tough adjustment,” Nabers said. “I didn’t really see it early on. I saw it late.
It was kind of a late reaction and I had to spin my body and make the catch.” He made it look rather easy. That play eventually led to a Giants’ field goal that closed Houston’s lead to 14-10 at the end of the first half.
Nabers earlier had kept the same drive alive with a 16-yard catch on a third-and-10 play. In addition to his four catches, he also ran once for five yards on an end around. The performance came after Nabers gave the Giants a scare earlier in the week when he left with an ankle injury.
Giants coach Brian Daboll wasn’t ready to be overly effusive in his praise of the rookie. In fact, he was quite reserved when asked about Nabers. “Again, I will go back and watch it, but he’s a good player,” Daboll said.
“Glad we have him.” Nabers wasn’t overly impressed by his own performance. In fact, he was quick to mention a pass on the Giants’ first offensive series that he felt he should have caught.
Matched against Texans cornerback Derek Stingley, Nabers ran a beautiful stop-and-go route and got behind the third overall pick in the 2022 draft. Jones made a terrific pass 22 yards down the field. Nabers, who appeared to get his left arm tangled slightly with Stingley, got his right hand on the football but couldn’t pull it in.
“The first one ...
I’m still mad ...
that I didn’t come down with that one,” Nabers told reporters after the game. “You never know when your next opportunity is going to be on the field, so I want to make every opportunity I have to get the ball.” Nabers said he also wants the quarterback to feel like he will catch every pass thrown his way.
He added that his chemistry with Jones during training camp and in their first preseason game together has been exceptional. “We still have a few things we need to clean up, but the chemistry is there and it’s showing out on the field,” Nabers said. Jones agreed and was happy that what he had been doing with the rookie receiver throughout training camp was finally unveiled in a game, even it was only a preseason one.
“It’s good to do it in a game setting for sure,” Jones said. “He made a few really nice catches out there and we’ve seen it in practice. But, yeah, seeing it in a game, feeling it and making those plays was good.
” Nabers said when he was at LSU, aka Wide Receiver U, the belief was that the guys who catch the football provided the spark for the entire team. “You know when I was in college we’d always say the receivers were the spark of the game,” Nabers said. “When you make a tough grab or a spectacular catch, it fuels the offense.
When Slay made that tough grab it fueled the offense.” He was speaking of the 44-yard catch Darius Slayton made in the second quarter to give the offense the ball at the one-yard line and set up the Giants’ only touchdown of the game. Slayton has been the Giants’ leading receiver in four of his first five seasons with the team and figures to remain a favorite target of Jones in 2024.
Bob Brookover can be reached at [email protected].
