Malik Nabers celebrated a Giants victory Sunday but challenged the way Fox's broadcast presented his behavior during the game. Following New York's 19-11 win over the Eagles in Philadelphia, the third-year receiver used an Instagram story to push back against comments from play-by-play announcer Joe Davis and analyst Greg Olsen.
Nabers accused the broadcasters of trying to build a narrative about him and objected to what he described as Olsen calling him a bad teammate. He said nobody who had played alongside him had characterized him that way. He also maintained that his facial expression stays the same regardless of his performance or whether his team is winning or losing, and urged the broadcast to keep its cameras off him if that was a problem.
The criticism came during a game in which Nabers caught five of his eight targets for 43 yards. It was his first outing below 100 receiving yards since Week 3. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Giants driving while holding a 13-8 advantage, quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw a pass behind Nabers that fell incomplete.
Replays showed Nabers waving his arm, a gesture Olsen interpreted as an indication that the receiver wanted the throw placed farther in front of him. Davis criticized Nabers' body language, and Olsen agreed. The discussion then turned to Nabers' reaction after Isaiah Likely had scored a touchdown earlier in the second half to put New York ahead, with Davis questioning why he had not appeared more positive.
Olsen said wanting the ball was a familiar trait among outstanding receivers, drawing on his experience playing with them. But he argued that a player's competitive demands should not diminish a teammate's success. When another player catches an open touchdown pass, Olsen said, a receiver should celebrate rather than remain focused on his own targets.
While describing Nabers as a talented young player, Olsen said he needed to keep that behavior under control. Nabers' subsequent social media response rejected the suggestion that his expressions reflected poorly on his relationship with teammates.
Later in the quarter, Nabers stretched out for a third-down pass from McCarthy in the end zone but did not secure it. Olsen again criticized the receiver, saying the throw had given him a touchdown opportunity that a player of his standing needed to convert. New York instead kicked a field goal, extending its lead to 16-8 with approximately nine minutes remaining.
