Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers caught a lot of passes in this week’s joint practices with the Lions, but he wasn’t able to do the same in Thursday night’s preseason game between the teams.
The first-round pick played his first game since entering the NFL and it didn’t take long for him to show the skills that made him such a high choice. Nabers broke free deep on his first play, but quarterback Drew Lock wound up keeping the ball and scrambling. The same thing happened again on the team’s third offensive possession and Nabers’s night came to an end a short time later.
After the game, head coach Brian Daboll said Lock “was trying to make a smart decision” based on what he saw on defense on the first play and Nabers said that there are a lot of things that have to fall into place for the ball to come his way.
“It felt good to be back on the football field, playing a real game,” Nabers said, via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “We had a plan. I wasn’t sure if I was playing. I did a very good job of getting open, but everything has to go my way to get the ball. It was kind of slippery out there. I think I could’ve done a better job of creating separation, getting better looks for the QB to throw the ball in better spots. That’s all I can do — continue to do what I do.”
If Nabers keeps getting open, the ball will find him and the Giants are banking on good things happening once it does.