Giants rookie WR Malik Nabers sheds light on comments, but says: 'I still stand on what I said'

Malik Nabers warned us.

Remember on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” last summer, when Giants coach Brian Daboll was seen interviewing the young receiver at the scouting combine?

Daboll: “How do you handle losing? Be straight.”

Nabers: “Not at all. I hate losing more than I love winning.”

Daboll: “How do you handle not being involved early in the game?”

Nabers: “How do I handle it? I handle it pretty tough. . . . If I’m not in those plays and not getting the ball I’m pretty hard on it.”

Daboll: “I don’t mind that. I want guys who want to get the ball.”

The Giants ended up drafting Nabers No. 6 overall, and it turns out he does hate losing, and he does “handle it pretty tough” when not involved early.

All that came to a head on Sunday when the Giants lost to the Buccaneers, 30-7, to drop to 2-9, after Nabers was not targeted once in the first half.

He described the Giants’ play as “soft” and seemed to question the playcalling that resulted in him being reception-less as the Giants fell behind 23-0 at halftime.

That led to conversations with both Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, and on Tuesday a fascinating session with reporters in which Nabers both backed off on his comments from Sunday and, well, not.

“If I had an opportunity to go back and change the words that I said, I would,” he said. “But I still stand on what I said. I said it. I don't have no regrets with what I said. But, after looking at the film, we just lacked technique.”

Nabers’ 67 receptions are an NFL record for a player’s first nine career games.

On Thursday, he will perform before his biggest audience yet, when the Giants visit the Cowboys on the highly rated late afternoon Thanksgiving time slot.

It is not clear who will be throwing to Nabers, with Tommy DeVito questionable because of a sore right arm. Drew Lock would fill in if necessary.

Back to Tuesday. Nabers did say that rather than calling the performance “soft” he should have blamed technique. But he made no apologizes for his outspokenness.

“That's the competitor that they want in the locker room,” he said. “You want a competitor. You don't want somebody who is just happy with losing. That's just the competitor in me. That's just how I'm wired. That's just who I am.”

Nabers conceded his lack of targets in the first half largely was a function of how few offensive plays the Giants had. It was not the first time Nabers has had a quiet start to a game.

“I don't really have an answer for that, because that's just what it is,” he said. “That's just what it's going to be. I can express the way I feel about it. Only thing I can do is continue to do my job, continue to run my routes and get open.”

Why is it so important to get involved early?

“If you start later on in a game, it's like your body's not ready,” he said. “You come into the game prepared, right? If you take one quarter off, two quarters off, your body just starts lacking. It's like you don't even want to play no more.

“I'm not saying that's how I feel. I'm just saying that's your body. You're not getting involved early then you're not getting the feel of the ball, you're not getting hit.”

Asked how he feels about rookies speaking out, Daboll said. “Look, I think I'm very confident in the relationship I have with our guys, whether they're rookies, whether they're veterans, and we have good, productive conversations.”

Nabers said being a rookie is no reason to keep quiet.

“Just because I'm a rookie, I’m a part the team” he said. “I got added to this team to be a resource, to be somebody that can change the game. I'm not going to just sit back just because I'm a younger guy and not speak on how I feel.

“They want me to speak up. They feel like my energy helps the offense, in a way, to be explosive. So, of course, I'm going to speak up if something doesn't go my way. That's just how I am.”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.