When does a win not quite feel like a win?
For New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, it was probably following Sunday’s 19-11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles — a game in which Nabers came off the field to questions about his body language and being a bad teammate after he saw his 4-game streak of 100-yard receiving games snapped with 5 receptions for 48 yards.
Nabers was visibly frustrated during the game, including slamming his helmet on the sideline and throwing one hand up in frustration after quarterback J.J. McCarthy missed a throw into a tight window late in the game. Nabers closed out his day by dropping a perfect pass from McCarthy in the end zone that would have made it a two-score game in the fourth quarter.
After Fox Sports play-by-play man Joe Davis and color commentator and former NFL tight end Greg Olsen were highly critical of Nabers during the broadcast, Nabers fired back on social media after the game.
“Y’all be trying to create a narrative on me so bad it’s actually crazy!!!” Nabers wrote on his official Instagram account on Sunday. “If you don’t like the way I play the game keep the camera off me!! SIMPLE! But (Greg Olsen) callin’ me a bad teammate when every team I’ve been on, NOBODY I’ve played with has said (that) about me is crazy! My face is the same way if I’m having a good game, bad, winning or losing. If it’s a problem: 1. Keep the camera off me, 2. Pray about it! Simple.”
What Davis and Olsen Said About Nabers
Davis and Olsen went in on Nabers after McCarthy missed on an attempt to Nabers in the second half.
“His body language has been terrible today,” Davis said.
“It’s not good,” Fox Sports color commentator and former NFL tight end Greg Olsen said. “There’s a fine line between being demanding and chasing greatness and then being a bad teammate … like if your teammate scores a touchdown for the lead and you’re still worried about your touches.”
Nabers did nothing to help his cause by dropping a perfect pass from McCarthy in the end zone that would have given the Giants a 20-8 lead in the fourth quarter.
Instead, the Giants settled for a field goal and a 16-8 lead.
“You can’t act like that and drop that pass,” Olsen said. “That’s a perfectly thrown ball.”
The Giants improved to 5-2-1 and are still alone in first place in the NFC East.
Public Sentiment Quickly Turns Against Nabers
Davis and Olsen weren’t the only ones who noticed Nabers’ tantrums — or his dropped touchdown pass.
“No excuses,” Fireside Giants’ Anthony Rivardo wrote on his official X account. “Malik Nabers has to catch that. You’re in a pissy mood all day, complaining about not getting the ball, and McCarthy delivers you a dime in the end zone and you drop it. Unacceptable.”
“Malik Nabers has to catch that,” NFL reporter Billy Reinhardt wrote on X. “Especially if he’s going to have the body language he has had today about not getting the ball.”
“Malik Nabers drops what would have been a nail in the coffin TD pass by J.J. McCarthy,” New York Daily News reporter Pat Leonard wrote on his official X account on Sunday. “Giants settling for a field goal.”
“Greg Olsen and Joe Davis have been killing Malik Nabers for his body language today, and rightfully so,” NESN’s Keagan Stiefel wrote on X.
Giants WR Malik Nabers Fires Back at Greg Olsen’s ‘Body Language’ Criticism