The New York Giants were blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at MetLife, and then several players couldn’t wait to point fingers at a lackluster effort, coaching decisions, and everything else that went wrong once the media was permitted into the locker room.
Malik Nabers, in particular, didn’t hesitate questioning his lack of usage by head coach Brian Daboll, particularly before the Buccaneers raced out to a 30-0 lead. While Nabers finished with six catches for 64 yards, he wasn’t even targeted until the third quarter.
Nabers told reporters that he believed his team’s effort was “soft as f–k,” in an eventual 30-7 loss that buried the Giants further in the NFC East’s basement.
“First, second quarter, I don’t get the ball,” Nabers said. “Start getting targets at the end. I mean, can’t do nothing. Start getting the ball when it’s 30-0. What do you want me to do?”
During his Monday media availability, Daboll pushed back against the suggestion that he’s team didn’t show any effort against Tampa.
“Look,” Daboll told reporters. “These guys put a lot of work into this, as does everybody involved, and certainly not something that we wanted yesterday. We work hard every week to not have that happen, and that was a tough one. So, there’s frustration that comes with it, understandable.
“And we communicate, I think we have good leadership in our locker room. I think we communicate on a daily basis. But certainly, a frustrating game, no question about it.”
The Giants have a quick turnaround, set to square off against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, but it may take some effort for Daboll to smooth over Nabers’ concerns.
“I thought our guys played hard,” Daboll asserted. “Go back and evaluated the tape. There were certain plays that you want back. We talked about some of the missed tackles that happened.
“Offensively, some of the negative plays, particularly in the first half. We had 17 plays. That created some third-and-longs that we didn’t pick up. Didn’t control the time of possession. But the guys played hard, they played with effort. Just didn’t do enough.”
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