During the break between the first and second quarters of Sunday’s loss to the Commanders, Fox cameras caught Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers and head coach Brian Daboll engaged in a spirited conversation on the sideline.
The exchange ended with Daboll trying to slap hands with Nabers, who may not have seen the coach’s gesture and did not respond. Both men were asked about what happened during their postgame press conferences.
Daboll chalked it up to “two competitive people understanding that where we are at right now, or offensively, is not where we want to be” while Nabers said he was trying to raise an energy level that he felt was lacking.
“I mean, I said I was going to speak up, when it was time for me to speak up, but just trying to get guys going, trying to get everything going,” Nabers said, via a transcript from the team. “I felt like we were lacking out there. The energy wasn’t right. So, I took it upon myself to try to boost people up. It’s two competitive people going at it. He wants to win; I want to win. I feel like that’s the reason he got me over here is because of how me and him are just alike. So, it was two people just going at it, we trying to get the same outcome.”
Nabers has not been shy about expressing his feelings about the team since being drafted in 2024. Nabers called the team “soft as f—k” after a loss to the Buccaneers last November and failing to score a Week 1 touchdown for the third straight year isn’t going to convince anyone that the Giants have corrected all that contributed to their 3-14 record last season. That will have to change soon or Daboll will have more to worry about than brief spats with his star receiver.