Malik Nabers and the Giants push back on body language critics
Giants' Malik Nabers attempts to catch a pass in the end zone during the fourth quarter against the Eagles on Nov. 8, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pa. Credit: Getty Images/Todd Olszewski
And now, class. Can everyone gather for this week’s reading of Malik Nabers? The title of this chapter? Body Language.
There are no words here. Just video and frames of Nabers’ facial expression and movements. All open to interpretation to decide what the Giants receiver is feeling.
After last Sunday, it feels like that’s what games will be like. Watching and studying how Nabers reacts to decipher his moods. But Nabers had enough of that and so did the Giants.
After Fox Sports analyst Greg Olsen criticized how Nabers looked during Sunday’s win over the Eagles, Nabers responded. First came a post on Instagram Sunday night and then he addressed it again Tuesday ahead of facing the Commanders this week.
“I felt like that was just a lie, just attacking my character as a football player and as a teammate,” Nabers said. “Like I said, I’ve never been on a team where anyone has called me a bad teammate that I know of.
“My body language is the same all the time. My facial expression is the same all the time. I think a lot of people just don’t know that because they don’t know me. And that’s OK, that’s OK. But just don’t tell the world who I am if you don’t know who I am.”
After three seasons, people should know how fiery and demonstrative Nabers is. But they also should know the Giants have his back.
Cam Skattebo made a strong plea this week that Nabers’ attitude comes from being a competitor, not a disgruntled teammate.
“When you have somebody that has that much passion, you see it,” Skattebo said. “You see the way they drive themselves, the way they want the team to win, and the way they carry themselves because they know they can be a big part of that.
“And when you have a guy like that, one, he has to learn how to control it. But two, you have to learn how to adapt to that as a teammate and also as a coaching staff.”
Passion can be attractive or volatile. People always want to see athletes care while worrying when or if it crosses a line. What Nabers is learning is how to both be himself and be a leader knowing his emotions affect others.
Remember Week 4’s win over the Cardinals? Nabers was visibly upset he only got two targets in the second half. When he was shown on the broadcast Sunday, Nabers had a team-high eight targets but just 43 yards on five catches.
So Olsen, who played with big personalities in college at Miami and over 14 NFL seasons, spoke his mind.
“There is a very fine line between being demanding, being a competitor and all of those great things,” Olsen said last Sunday. “That’s great. It just can never cross [that line] where it feels like it takes away from the success of your teammates. So when your teammate catches a wide-open touchdown, you need to be the happiest guy on the field. You can’t still be worried about your targets.”
Olsen clarified he never called Nabers a bad teammate. But both Skattebo and John Harbaugh downplayed any notion of Nabers even being a bad influence.
Harbaugh said after Week Four wasn’t worried about Nabers’ outbursts. He took it further this week by warning others not to assume things based on what they see.
“If you really don’t know the person or you don’t know the dynamic or you don’t know the circumstances or who the person’s talking to, especially if you’re judging through a TV screen, how do you have any idea what the application is and how do you judge it,” Harbaugh said. “It’s really hard to judge it, make a judgment on it.”
Ultimately, Nabers remains in good standing. His passion can fuel the team forward but it can burn things down. It hasn’t yet but he must be aware how things look even if he has different intent.
It’s not wrong to want the ball. The Giants are better finding him to make this offense shine. Just be mindful how it looks publicly no matter how you react privately.
Still, the Giants also aren’t worried about Nabers’ attitude.
“We like that stuff because we can see what he cares about,” Skattebo said. “Obviously, he can channel in different ways, different times, and different days. But I’m the same way as him. I just I’m not as expressive about it.”
It just reminds the Book of Nabers remains a must-read. Let Nabers tell it, people should read his lips, not his actions. It won’t happen, of course, but it’s a lesson that while being himself, he also has to be mindful.
Even if Nabers is merely doing what helped him reach the NFL to begin with.
“They think my bad body language is me just not caring or I’m frustrated,” Nabers said. “No, it’s just passion for the game. I put a lot of effort into it and that can come off to anybody how they want to speak to it as far as that. But like I said, it’s not hurting anyone. It’s not hurting the team.”
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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