EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — That was the last question for rookie wide receiver Malik Nabors, whose team had just lost seven games in a row. A reporter asked what he needed to do to wipe away the drips that had plagued him this season.
During Neighbors’ 27-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, two passes he was supposed to catch ended up on the ground. Per NFL Next Gen stats, Nabers is tied for second in the NFL with eight drops.
“I’m not worried about the drop,” Nabors said afterward. “That’s part of football. I don’t care if you drop the ball six times. Just keep throwing the ball.”
The postgame press conference, held in front of the lockers at AT&T Stadium, ended on an eye-opening note. It was even worse than I expected. It was his best performance in a frustrating rookie season.
Just a week ago, Neighbors criticized the team for not scoring a single goal in the first half of a 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He described the team’s effort as “very soft.”
Nabors may have the most catches (75) of any receiver in his 10-game NFL career, but he averages 3.1 yards after the catch. 61 is fine.cent Among 80 qualifying wide receivers. He also ranks second among all players with 117 targets despite missing two games.
Nabors said Wednesday that his point about the drop is that if it happens, you can’t dwell on the mistake. He needs to keep moving forward.
“So Malik is a competitive young man,” coach Brian Daboll said. “I think that’s what we preach, having a mindset of thinking about the next play. And I think he wants to make every play his way.”
Veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton thought Nabers “came from the right place.” He explained that coming to New York from college at LSU, where he could do whatever he wanted on the field, was not easy. Slayton said it was a culture shock of sorts.
Still, this is the second game in a row that Nabers’ post-match comments have raised eyebrows. Rookies, despite being the No. 6 overall pick this year, aren’t generally all that outspoken.
Nabers explained last week that this is part of the package. He’s part of the team and he’s not going to sit around just because he’s young. In fact, he said, the Giants want him to speak up. They want him to be part of the solution and energize a moribund offensive line.
The Giants (2-10) will play Sunday’s New Orleans Saints (1 p.m. ET, FOX), who rank last in the NFL with 15.3 points per game. Nabers’ status is unclear after he was released on the injury report Thursday with a recurrent groin injury. His participation in practice was limited.
Clearly, Nabors is not the team’s biggest problem. The Giants have benched and cut their starting QB over the past two weeks. They then started Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock. They also have a fourth and fifth starting offensive tackle.
Nabors is their best and most explosive playmaker, just as they predicted when they made him their top pick earlier this year. But not everything has been smooth sailing since his arrival.
After a poor start to the season, Nabors suffered a concussion in Week 4 against the Cowboys. That forced him to miss two games. At the time, he led the league with 35 receptions. He finished second with 386 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He averaged a healthy 96.5 yards per game and a healthy 4.5 yards after the catch.
Nabors has averaged just 59.0 yards per game and 1.9 yards after the catch since returning from his concussion. He hasn’t scored a touchdown. The rookie receiver believes it’s due to the increased attention and more detailed scouting reports for his games now that he’s 13 weeks into his pro career.
“I’m trying to turn my head faster after I catch the ball,” he said. “I’m just trying to feel out the defender even faster than I’ve ever been before. That’s really it.”
It’s all part of the learning curve. But so is controlling our emotions and how we treat ourselves. Part of that is saying and doing the right things. That’s up to Nabors and the team.
Former Giants receiver Amani Toomer, one of the best receivers in franchise history, doesn’t seem to like how Nabers is being treated.
“The way they bring him in and just throw him the ball and make him say whatever he wants to say, I’ve seen this happen before. It’s Jeremy Shockey’s It happened sometimes. They were letting him do everything he wanted to do, but it didn’t end well,” Toomer said on ESPN New York Radio’s “NY Gameday” on Sunday. “And when he started addressing the real problem that most of the NFL is dealing with…he didn’t get the ball in the first half? That’s amazing! Be a man and be ready when your number is called. Please.
“I think it’s completely wrong that he was brought into this league. It’s completely wrong. They’re just pandering to this guy. They’re letting him say whatever they want to say. . If you give too much to young players, if you pander to them, it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for them, it’s just like going to college.”
A natural comparison is with Odell Beckham Jr., the same player with whom Nabors recorded the most receptions (75) in his first 10 games. Beckham, also from LSU, was a star, but eventually everything fell apart in New York. That’s what the Giants don’t want to happen with Nabers.
The impact of Nabors’ post-match comments is unknown. Daboll recently said he has “open and good conversations” with his players when dealing with situations like this. Daboll’s style is to talk little about it publicly and deal with it behind closed doors. The results are mixed.
The Giants hope things work out with Nabors. At least he says he learned a lot about himself during his eventful rookie season.
“Focus more on the things you can control, such as your emotions, the way you live your life, and your personality,” says Nabers. “Yeah, even if these things aren’t going well, how can I look at myself in the mirror and try to find a way to help the team, help the team figure out a way to win, and help the team find a way to win?” As I said, focus on your character for now. A record is a record. You can still focus on moving forward. ”
