Malik Nabers followed up a solid performance in his NFL debut by hauling in 10 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown, but a crucial fourth down drop late in the fourth quarter stung the Giants in a 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
“I’m disappointed. I mean, no matter how good of a game you can play, that last play came down to me,” Nabers said about the failed reception on a 4th-and-4 play from the Washington 22-yard line with just over two minutes to play in a tie game.
“I’m hurt that I let those veterans down. I mean, they know what kind of player I am. Dex [Lawrence], [Brian] Burns, Isaiah [Simmons], I know what kind of confidence they got in me,” the wide receiver continued. “Just letting those guys down. It’s just, I don’t want to never let my team down. That’s the main motto that’s in my head is ‘Don’t let my team down.’
“I let my team down.”
Head coach Brian Daboll said his message to the receiver will be simple: “Keep your head up. Keep your head up.”
“I thought he played well,” Daboll said of Nabers’ play overall. “… Nabers, it was a bunch of one-on-one coverage and they started running split safeties. So with them playing split safeties, we ran the ball some. Post-high, we threw it to him. What did he have 18 targets? 10 catches. The last one, he is as competitive as can be. I appreciate how competitive and how much he cares.”
Nabers said he can feel the team’s and the quarterback’s faith already.
“He’s certain that if he throws me the ball, a play’s gonna be made,” Nabers said of Daniel Jones. “… Just him going at me that many times, it shows how much trust he has in me, shows how much trust this offense has in me, it just moving on and continuing to grow.”
Jones said the team wouldn’t have been in that position without the play of the receiver.
“He played really well, was big-time for us throughout the game, made tons of big plays,” the QB said. “He was a matchup issue for [Washington] all day. I think he knows that, he knows he played a good game and we gotta pick him up.
“He’s a competitor. He holds himself to high standard, so I know it bothers him. Gotta keep pressing forward.”
The rookie went into Sunday’s game knowing he would get many opportunities against the Commanders’ secondary but still feels a tinge of regret for not making that play he “obviously” felt he should have made.
“I mean, there’s really not no up and down,” he said of his emotions during the game. “It’s really just going back in my head and seeing how could I have done it different with the mistakes I made and hoping to get it back, but I know I couldn’t. I know that I can’t get that play back, just got to move on.”
The Giants went for the fourth down and passed up on attempting a tie-breaking 40-yard field goal because they were without kicker Graham Gano, who sustained a hamstring injury on the game’s opening kickoff.
Jones rebounds for a decent day
The final numbers weren’t spectacular for Big Blue’s quarterback: 178 yards on 16-for-28 passing (6.4 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns, good enough for a 63.6 QBR and 100 passer rating.
“Executed at a higher level. Did some good things in the run game and did some good things in the pass game,” he said about the difference in Week 2. “It was kind of a ball control game, where they had good time of possession, so you gotta convert on your opportunities when you’re in a game like that.
“Couple plays we gotta find a way to make and it’s on all of us.”
Daboll said the quarterback “went where he was supposed to go with the football.”
“He saw the field well. Threw it to the guy he was supposed to throw it to. Gave them chances,” the head coach said. “We had chances on other plays too that we didn’t connect on. I was proud of him. I was proud of the way he competed. I was proud of the way he prepared during the week and I was proud of his mental toughness.
“I thought he did a nice job.”
While the result was the same as the opening week – a loss – Jones had some positives to take from the game.
“Despite what the expectation was after last week, I felt confident, I felt confident in our group, confident in myself, I thought we prepared well this week at practice,” he said. “And we’ll continue to build confidence in our process and through our hard work. And obviously, we’re all disappointed in the outcome today and gotta work to finish it up.
“In terms of my confidence and the team’s confidence, I don’t think that’s going anywhere.”
And while playing without Gano and going 0-for-2 on two-point tries, it was no excuse.
“I don’t think we are going to make any excuses,” Jones said. “It’s football, stuff like that happens and people go down. Considering the situation, we managed it how we had to. We gotta look at what we coulda done better. Look at those two-point plays, couple situations here and there and where we can convert.
“Obviously, it’s ideal to lose your kicker on the first play, it changes how the game’s is played, but we are not going to make any excuses. Gotta find a way to make couple more plays.”
When asked about an ESPN piece on Sunday that mentioned his contract contains an injury guarantee that could lead to his benching to ensure the Giants aren’t on the hook for his 2025 salary, the QB claimed he was unaware of the report.
“My job is to play well and put this team in position to win games,” Jones said. “How they handle that and what comes out — where it comes from — I don’t know. That’s up to them on how that’s communicated. My job’s to play good football, but the team in position to win games and focus on my job.
“I’m not in control of any of that.”