Giants WR Malik Nabers Reaches Boiling Point Over Lack of Targets

Nabers openly expressed his frustration over not being more involved with the offense after the Giants were embarrassed by the Bucs, 30-7, on Sunday.

East Rutherford, NJ -- November 24, 2024 -- Malik Nabers of the Giants on the bench late in the fourth quarter 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

East Rutherford, N.J. - New York Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers has had enough.

Nabers, who had zero pass targets in the first half of the Giants’ 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, let his frustration with the season and, more specifically, with the play calling boil over after the game when he met with reporters.

The Giants’ first-round pick called the team “soft as (bleep)” and was openly perplexed as to why it took until the third quarter for him to get a target thrown his way.  

“First, second quarter, I don’t get the ball,” Nabers said. “Start getting targets at the end. Start getting the ball when it’s 30-0. What do you want me to do?” 

Nabers finished with six catches for 64 yards on nine targets, but those came during garbage time and didn’t make much of a difference. He’s now gone six games without a touchdown catch, including five since returning from a concussion earlier in the season. And his production has dropped notably.

In the four games before his concussion, Nabers caught 35 of 52 targets for 386 yards and three touchdowns. Since returning from his concussion, he’s caught 32 of 51 pass targets for 285 yards and no touchdowns. 

“Talk to (head coach Brian Daboll) about that,” Nabers said when asked why he didn't get the ball earlier in the game. “They come up to me and ask me what plays I want. I don’t know.”

Daboll blamed Nabers's lack of targets in the first half on the Giants' only managing 18 plays in the first half.  

“Certainly, had some there dialed up, and they had, whether it's a coverage designed to– I'm not saying double him or anything like that–just a better coverage for the play in and of itself. But didn't have very many plays,” he said.

“We tried to mix in the run. Started off the game with a good run and not much after that. The game got away from us and turned into a pass-a-thon, which is not what we want to do.” 

Nabers vented his frustration and continued to search for answers, even emphatically stating that the change in quarterbacks isn’t a factor.  

“It ain’t the quarterback,” he said. “Same outcome when we had (Daniel Jones) at quarterback. Take a look: It ain’t the quarterback. I don’t know what it is.” 

What he does know is that he’s had enough of how things have unfolded these last few weeks. 

“I’m tired of going out there and losing,” Nabers said. “It’s just that.”

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