Malik Nabers finally had a chance to make his highly-anticipated New York Giants debut after being sixth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Giants defeated the Detroit Lions 14-3 in their first preseason game of the 2024 NFL season, but Nabers didn’t get much of a chance to make an impact.
Nabers saw just 12 snaps in his first taste of the NFL on Thursday night, leaving the game before the second quarter had even arrived. To be fair, it was a rainy mess at MetLife Stadium, and the Giants may have been trying to err on the side of caution with their prized first-round pick.
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Malik Nabers: ‘I got open’
While Malik Nabers ran eight routes, he wasn’t targeted once by Giants quarterback Drew Lock. After the game, Nabers had a few interesting comments about his first NFL experience in a live game.
“It felt good to be back on the football field, playing a real game. 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.”
Malik Nabers on first preseason game with Giants
Nabers did indeed do a good job of getting open. There were at least two obvious occasions where he beat his defender in coverage. In fact, he even threw up his hand to let Lock know he was open on his first-ever NFL snap from scrimmage.
Here, in the second clip, you can see Nabers streaking open along the right sideline. Though, a safety was closing in on him too. Perhaps that’s why Lock didn’t give any thought to delivering the ball to Nabers.
Either way, Nabers didn’t get a lot of run in his debut, but most rookie first-round picks rarely do. Even in New England, where there’s a quarterback competition, Drake Maye only played six snaps. Expect to see a lot more from Nabers in the next few weeks before the Giants’ season officially kicks off against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1.
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