EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Despite missing two games with a concussion, Malik Nabers is having an excellent rookie season with the New York Giants.
The No. 6 overall pick, Nabers has caught 46 passes for 498 yards and three touchdowns. His catches are the eighth best in the league behind Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (52) and his yardage is 17th overall, 176 yards behind Ja’Marr Chase of the Bengals.
Quarterback Daniel Jones has targeted the LSU product 73 times, the second highest total behind Garrett Wilson of the Jets, who played Thursday night.
The jump to pro football has not been a problem for Nabers, except for one thing, and it’s not the Giants 2-6 record. Nabers is upset he’s dropped some passes. He’s had five this season, tied for the fourth most in the NFL.
The one that most fans remember came in the second week of the season when the Giants were tied with Washington near the two-minute warning. Nabers dropped a fourth-down pass that would have given New York a first down near the Commanders 10.
Jayden Daniels, a fellow rookie and Nabers’ quarterback at LSU, then led the Commanders on a winning field goal drive. The Giants had gone for a first down because placekicker Graham Gano was hurt on the opening play of the game and was not available.
Nabers, who had 10 catches for 127 yards and a TD that day, said he has flushed the game and is looking forward to Sunday and hoping to play better.
“I’m still always trying to get better at not dropping the ball,” Nabers said Thursday after practice. “It’s something that I’m not trying to do. It just happens. So, I don’t want people to just think I’m trying to drop the ball. It’s just something that happens in the game.”
Nabers said he needs to attack the ball and not let it hit him in the chest. It happens when his feet either aren’t in the right position or he is leaning forward to catch the ball.
It bothers him to no end.
Playing the game is still fun, and challenging. He got a lot of one-on-one coverage early in the season. Now teams are playing a safety over the top of him and cornerback underneath.
“It’s not fun getting double-teamed,” Nabers said. “But it’s kudos to me for what I’ve been doing on the field. So, the defense doesn’t want me to get a lot of catches, get a lot of yards.”
Getting double-covered is nothing new for Nabers. It was a constant in college. He found ways to succeed and that’s want he wants to do again.
“I’d still rather be one-on-one,” he quipped.
Nabers needs four receptions Sunday to the Rams’ Puka Nacua (58) as the only players in NFL history with at least 50 receptions in their first seven career games. He would need 102 yards receiving against Washington to become the fifth player in the Super Bowl era with at least 600 yards receiving in their first seven games, joining Chase (754), Nacua (752), Anquan Boldin (621) of the Cardinals and former Giant Odell Beckham Jr. (609).
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