Giants Players Deny Team Played “Soft” in Loss to Bucs

Giants ILB Micah McFadden and RG Jon Runyan Jr said the team was embarrassed by its play Sunday but was not "soft."

East Rutherford, NJ -- November 24, 2024 -- Tommy DeVito of the Giants gets hit by Calijah Kancey of Tampa Bay after he threw a pass in the fourth quarter. DeVito was injured and came out of the game for one play as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came to MetLife Stadium and defeated the New York Giants 30-7. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Members of the New York Giants know that their performance in the 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday wasn’t good by any stretch of the imagination.

But soft?

“I don’t think guys are out there soft,” said right guard Jon Runyan, Jr. during a video call with reporters Monday.

“I don’t think it’s in anybody’s DNA to play soft. “I think there was a strong lack of execution in certain areas, especially early on in the game, speaking offensively ... The execution, I’d say, was soft all day across the board.

“I don’t think it was for a lack of toughness or physicality. I think guys coming here work hard and train. To say that we played soft, I don’t think, is necessarily true.”

The soft label actually came from within the team’s own locker room from two predominantly star performers, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II and receiver Malik Nabers, both of whom were among those who expressed frustration over how the team failed to live up to its own expectations against the Bucs.

Lawrence began his postgame press briefing by saying he was “extremely” angry over the outcome, adding, “We played soft, and they beat the sh– out of us today.”

When asked what he meant by “playing soft,” Lawrence clarified that he was referring to the execution, and more specifically the missed tackles, failure to contain Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, and failure to cover, adding, “It’s soft to me.”

Meanwhile, Nabers called the team's performance “soft as f—,” but his grievances seemed to be more about him not receiving any targets in the first half of the game, as he lashed out verbally at the playcalling of head coach Brian Daboll.

Daboll and Nabers have since cleared the air, according to the head coach, who said he spoke to the receiver Sunday night and again on Monday morning about his concerns.

Still, the use of the word “soft” was one that got several people’s attention, especially after it looked as though the Giants were overly flat against the Bucs. But Daboll and the players all insisted that the effort was there, even though the execution wasn’t.

“I hope our team would never carry that identity of being a soft team,” inside linebacker Micah McFadden said. “I don’t think we are a soft team.”

Maybe not "soft," but both McFadden and Runyan agreed that the beating they took from the Bucs was embarrassing and shouldn’t have been remotely close to what it was. 

“I feel like everybody feels like we were embarrassed,” Runyan said. “We spoke to that post-game in the locker room and that is the feeling. Guys are frustrated, they’re mad.”

McFadden defended the effort, particularly on defense, stating that overall it was good, but adding, ““I would say there were a couple one-off plays where, you know, maybe one or two guys would like to have it back. But I think for the most part, we were playing hard.”

But again, both players agreed that the execution of assignments was the biggest culprit in the loss as well as with how the season has gone.

“Nobody in this locker room is happy with how the season’s gone,” Runyan said. “We all do this because we’ve played the sport for a long time, we enjoy it, and we want to win at the end of the day.

"That’s what we do this for because winning is great, and we bust our butts every week trying to prepare for these games and just not getting the results that hurts us just as much as it hurts all these fans.

“We’re disappointed in ourselves and we’re disappointed for them that we’re making them watch these games. But there’s no quit in this team. We’re doing everything we can to get this thing going.”

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