'It's you or nobody': The promise fueling Malik Nabers' record-setting start for NY Giants

CLEVELAND - Malik Nabers has embraced the sentiment beneath the promise that has been made to him time and again by the New York Giants .

Not out of ego or gridiron delusion, mind you, but from the simplest of realities for the player and the franchise for which he already stands as its offensive centerpiece.

"It's you or nobody."

That's what Daniel Jones has repeatedly told Nabers, essentially from the moment they got together for the first time on the practice field and set out to develop rapport between them.

It's the message Giants coach Brian Daboll has drilled into the mind and the heart of the 21-year-old rookie whose game he fell in love with at first watch.

For Nabers, there is no greater feeling than knowing, in the biggest of moments, all eyes in the building are on you.

"Make a play," Nabers told NorthJersey.com with a smile. "I had high expectations [coming into the NFL], but I feel like having that dawg mentality I got, it’s just about showing that every time I’m out there on the field. It really is, ‘Show it every time I’m out there on the field.’"

How did Nabers do that for the Giants in Sunday's 21-15 victory over the Cleveland Browns, their first this season and one that essentially saved their season? Let us count the ways No. 1 delivered for Big Blue.

On a fourth-and-1 from the Giants' own 43 in the first quarter, already trailing 7-0, the Giants went to Nabers on a jet sweep. Two yards, first down. Devin Singletary wound up capping that drive with a touchdown run.

In the second quarter, Nabers went over the top of Browns corner Martin Emerson, taking the football off his helmet - and out of the defender's hands - for a spectacular 28-yard reception along the Cleveland sideline.

Two plays later, Daboll went into his bag of tricks at the 3-yard line with a direct snap to Nabers - with Jones motioning out to wide receiver - and the freedom to make the right choice. Browns star cornerback Denzel Ward stayed with Jones in coverage, so Nabers threw the ball out of bounds, surviving the down without forcing anything.

On the next play, Jones fired high in the back left corner of the end zone where Nabers leaped, high-pointed the football and somehow managed to touch down both of his feet in bounds for an incredible touchdown catch.

On third and fourth down this season, Nabers has 10 catches on 11 targets for 140 yards and two TDs while converting on 8-of-11 attempts to come his way, including three plays of 20 or more yards.

Then came what Daboll called Nabers' best play - and the most critical - of the game. The Giants had a throwback pass called for rookie tight end Theo Johnson, but there was unexpected pressure on Jones, whose arm was hit as he attempted to throw. The ball fluttered in the air and was up for grabs - until Nabers went back to his high school roots as a scout team cornerback and broke up the pass, preventing an interception that would have given the Browns possession inside the 15.

"The kid's special," Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns said of Nabers. "He's showing y'all week in, week out - he's special. I just gotta help him stay on that track, keep doing good and really embrace that position he's in.”

With 23 receptions for 271 yards and three touchdowns, Nabers is the only player in the 105 years of the NFL to have at least 20 catches and at least three receiving touchdowns in his first three games.

"Just hard work," Nabers said. "Dabs cooking up a lot of plays for me and the offense trusting me to get that done. Putting a lot of targets on my back, getting the ball in my hands. Just shows how much we want to be an explosive offense and I’m just a key factor in that offense."

A week earlier, after carrying the Giants' offense against Washington, nearly every time Daniel Jones looked his way, Nabers failed to hold onto the final throw that did - a fourth-and-4 from the 22 with 2:04 remaining - and the play left him pounding the grass in frustration in the Giants’ eventual 21-18 loss. The lasting image of Nabers on that day was the one of him stretched out on the sideline, facemask in his hands and beating himself up for the one play he was unable to make.

Following the game, Nabers apologized to veteran teammates for letting them down.

"I told him after I saw that [interview after the Washington game], he didn't let anyone down," Giants star defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence said. "It's gonna happen. We're pros. We're gonna make some plays, we're gonna miss some plays. All the greats do. So, it's just about responding.”

And on Sunday, in a game the Giants desperately needed, Nabers just that. He stood at his locker afterward, praise heaped upon him, and deservedly so.

That’s when I asked Nabers if this performance puts to bed any frustration or regret he harbored last week when he missed out on the chance to beat his college teammate and close friend, quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.

“I mean, I’m still not over it. It still bothers me, but it’s something I’ve got to put in my past,” Nabers said. “I’m never going to not think about it. Still goes through my mind every day I talk to Jayden. Still goes through my mind.“

If the great ones are only as good as their last game, as Lawrence suggested, then Nabers’ run into the league’s history books should put his mind - and that of the Giants’ organization at ease after Sunday.

At least until the Cowboys come to North Jersey on Thursday night, when Nabers takes center stage in prime time for the first time.

Given what Nabers has done so far, we’re all going to witness quite the show.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 'It's you or nobody': The promise fueling Malik Nabers' record-setting start for NY Giants