The most important body language from Malik Nabers on Thursday was his end zone dance after Isaiah Likely scored the go-ahead touchdown.
It surpassed when Nabers waved his arms to try to trick the officials into thinking his costly fumble was an incompletion.
With the Giants trailing by three points but in the red zone, Nabers lost a fumble for the first time in his three-year career at the worst possible time. Likely briefly picked up his teammate with a 66-yard touchdown catch before the Giants fell 24-21 to the Commanders.
Nabers was the intended target on the final pass of the game, but Rasul Douglas wrestled away a 50-50 ball for an interception before the Giants could get in range to attempt the game-tying field goal.
The Giants were only threatening to score in the third quarter because Nabers started the possession with a beautiful double move on Amik Robertson, who bit on quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s pump fake and allowed the 37-yard gain before catching up to the play.
It seemed to energize Nabers, who then celebrated Malachi Fields’ catch in the red zone by making the first-down signal. But then came his rare mistake (third career fumble).
The Giants forced a quick three-and-out, but McCarthy didn’t go back to Nabers on the ensuing seven-play drive, which stalled just over midfield on a third-down incompletion to backup tight end Theo Johnson.
Nabers felt forced to defend his body language twice in the last four days after the Fox broadcast team of Greg Olsen and Joe Davis criticized him for slamming his helmet and not looking happy after Likely’s touchdown catch against the Eagles.
Well, that certainly wasn’t the case when McCarthy stepped up in the pocket against a Commanders blitz and threaded a needle to Likely. When Likely broke out of a pack and started sprinting toward the end zone, Nabers hustled down the field to throw the final block at the 5-yard line.
The running joke between Nabers and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is that the play-caller is threatened when he doesn’t call enough passes targeting Nabers.
Nabers had four straight 100-yard games — one shy of tying Odell Beckham Jr.’s franchise record — entering the bye but has been quiet coming out of it.
Nabers had three catches for 8 yards through the first 38 minutes, with an average depth of target of 1 yard behind the line of scrimmage. In other words, the Giants were calling bubble screens just to appease Nabers by getting the ball in his hands.
A body language expert might not have liked seeing Nabers hopping up and down and gesturing to the sideline Thursday after an incompletion to Likely, but Nabers explained two days prior that on the field, “I’m a mean guy, raging, slapping my helmet, screaming, never really smiling, but that’s just how I play the game.”
