It was the Malik Nabers-Sauce Gardner show at the joint practice between the New York Giants and New York Jets on Wednesday. The cornerback was quick to shower the rookie wide receiver with praise when asked what his impressions are of Nabers.
“He nice, he's very sudden you know when it comes to getting in an out of his breaks," Gardner said at the team's press conference. "I know this might sound kind of weird he reminds me of an LSU receiver…kind of a little Ja’Marr Chase, a little Justin Jefferson."
That's high praise coming from Gardner , an All-Pro in both of his first two seasons in the NFL. Unfortunately for onlookers, he rarely got to match up with Nabers at the team practice.
Nabers caught just one pass when covered by Gardner: a 15-yard ball over the middle. He caught three passes on the day and dropped a would-be touchdown on a two-minute drill late in the game.
“Yeah, it bothered me pretty bad,” Nabers said about the drop following practice. “If I had to do it again, I would work on something different on catching the ball. I’ll just go look at it, see what I can do better, and just practice that. Practice getting my eyes around faster and finding the ball in the air.”
Nabers, the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has lit up the preseason for the Giants so far. He was a star at LSU like Chase and Jefferson before him, catching 89 passes for 1589 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023 to earn unanimous All-American honors.
He'll certainly have to achieve a whole lot to lace the lofty boots of Chase and Jefferson. The pair ranks first (Jefferson) and fourth (Chase) all-time in most receiving yards per game.
Gardner, who won the 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, is looking to reach the playoffs for the first time in his career. He teams with veteran corner DJ Reed to former arguably the best cornerback duo in the entire NFL.
When asked about Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, Gardner tempered his praise: "Uh, he's uh, he's uh, he's uh good quarterback, you feel me?"
"I thought I was about to pick him off today. I had a cloud rep [where the cornerback plays the flat and force and the safety plays the deep half of the field]. He had looked at the last minute to throw the checkdown to [wide receiver] Wan'Dale [Robinson]. I thought I had him picked, but he kept it [and ran]."
Gardner and his teammates, including safety Chuck Clark, were seen visibly taunting the Giants after claiming a victory in the scrimmage. "We were just having fun out there," Gardner said.
Nabers didn't seem to mind Gardner & co. waving his team goodbye. "They can do that. I mean, they won on the day. Their defense came out, executed well. We beat ourselves today."
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