LANDOVER, Md. — The football slipped through Malik Nabers’ fingers as he fell out of bounds at the Washington Commanders’ 11-yard line. The New York Giants rookie started to get up before unleashing some frustration, pounding his fists onto the grass in disgust.
The moment came after what had been, to that point, a highly productive day. In just his second career game, he caught 10 passes for 127 yards and scored his first career touchdown. But with the drop, which came on Nabers’ 18th target of the day, the Giants turned the ball over on downs, giving Washington two minutes to mount its game-winning field goal drive and seal the Giants’ 0-2 start.
“I’m disappointed,” Nabers said after the Giants’ 21-18 loss. “I mean, no matter how good of a game you can play, that last play came down to me. I’m hurt I let those veterans down. I mean, they know what kind of player I am. … It’s just, I don’t want to ever let my team down. That’s the main motto that’s in my head: Don’t let my team down. I let my team down.”
While the moment will sting for the rookie, it should be at least somewhat bittersweet. Nabers would probably disagree, but it’s hard to say he actually let his team down. In most respects, he was the Giants pass offense on Sunday.
Quarterback Daniel Jones only threw 28 passes, and Nabers attracted 18 of them. No other Giants receiver was targeted more than four times or tallied more than 33 yards on Sunday. Nabers’ 18 targets are tied for the fifth-most any rookie has seen in one game in the Super Bowl era. Former Giant Odell Beckham Jr. has the record with 21.
Giants coach Brian Daboll said he was comfortable with one player soaking up that many targets. That’s not necessarily surprising considering where the Giants drafted Nabers (No. 6 overall), but it was especially notable after Nabers was added to the Giants’ injury report on Thursday with a knee injury as a limited participant in practice. He returned to practice Friday.
While the stellar performance came in a losing effort, Nabers’ emergence as their go-to receiver was at least one promising development for the Giants. New York has been operating all offseason like it would use him this way — Nabers was heavily targeted throughout training camp — but it was good to see he could handle the workload.
“(Jones) was trusting me on one-on-one matchups,” Nabers said. “Dabs came on the sideline, was like, ‘What plays you want to run?’ I told him a couple of plays, and he continued to call them. (It’s) so great that I got those guys on my side, they come up to me, ask me what plays I want. As a rookie, it shows how much confidence they have in me.”
Confidence might be an understatement. It’s more like dependence.
First of many touchdowns for Malik 🔥
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/sbsGTZNt0i
— New York Giants (@Giants) September 15, 2024
Through two games, Nabers has fielded 25 of the Giants’ 65 targets (38.4 percent). Entering “Monday Night Football,” that’s the No. 1 team target share in the league. Los Angeles Rams superstar Cooper Kupp, who exited Sunday’s game with an ankle injury, is second at 36 percent.
In many ways, Nabers is being asked to put the Giants offense on his back. Fair or unfair for a 21-year-old rookie, that’s not going to change.
Nabers appears up for the challenge, while it’s obvious he deeply cares about the results.
After the drop, the rookie spent much of the final two minutes seated next to veteran receiver Darius Slayton, as teammates and coaches came by to check in.
During Sunday’s game, the Giants were forced to try a pair of 2-point conversions after kicker Graham Gano’s injury resulted in punter Jamie Gillan attempting and missing a PAT. Two of those attempts went to Slayton and fell incomplete.
“One play doesn’t define a game,” Slayton said. “And quite frankly, we shouldn’t have been in a predicament anyways if I would have made the play on the 2-point conversions. So I was just trying to pick him up in the moment because I know what it’s like. I also had some fault. So it’s like, ‘I’m in it with you.’”
After the game, Nabers didn’t move much from his area on the Giants bench until Commanders QB Jayden Daniels and others made their way over to the opponent’s sideline. The former LSU teammates and top 2024 draft picks had planned to swap jerseys, but Nabers said he forgot about the proposal after he dropped the ball.
You knew this jersey swap was coming@LSUfootball | #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/BuHNJnlaWa
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 15, 2024
The two shared an embrace before exchanging jerseys. Daniels got the jersey from Nabers’ first 100-yard game, while Nabers got the jersey from Daniels’ first win.
“That’s going to mean a lot to both of us,” Daniels said.
While the two friends chatted earlier this week, they got to reconnect while facing each other for the first time in NFL action. Following the game, Daniels tried to offer some uplifting words, telling his former receiver to keep his head up.
Nabers knows that and said as much early in his remarks in the postgame locker room. But when asked how he’ll do that, it’s clear the drop will sting until the next time he can make up for it.
“This whole week I’m going to think about it until I play the next game,” Nabers said. “And then it goes in the past. Until then, I’m going to continue to think about it.”
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(Photo: Luke Johnson / Imagn Images)
