After last Sunday’s loss to the Commanders, Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers explained a fiery sideline exchange with head coach Brian Daboll as an attempt “to boost people up” because he felt the team’s energy level was not where it needed to be.
The team never matched that energy on the field and the 21-6 loss looked a lot like the ones the team experienced on a regular basis during Nabers’ rookie season. On Wednesday, Nabers said at a press conference that he turned off tape of the game because watching it made him “sick to my stomach.” Nabers was clear that his play was the reason he was upset — “I had 12 targets, so why would I argue about getting the ball?” — and that his in-game expressiveness was strictly about trying to spark the team.
“I was trying to get the offense going, I was trying to get people rolling,” Nabers said. “The lights were on, the game was on, it was time to play. I feel like that just got pushed over, and everybody was talking about attitude and stuff like that. It’s just, I got an ‘NBF,’ I got a natural bitch face, that’s just what it is. That’s just my face, I don’t know. When you all talk to me, I look the same way every time, I don’t know, it’s just how I am, but I guess I have to smile more.”
Nabers thought the sideline blowup was blown out of proportion, but that he understands why that happened. He has spoken to Daboll about “just overall sideline demeanor” since the game and knows that he has to be “more conscious” of it in the future because of how many eyes are on him during games. Whatever happens on that front, the on-field results have to be better for attention to be fully focused on that aspect of the team.
