Giants' Nabers defends criticism, says analyst Olsen's body language jab a 'lie'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers said Tuesday he posted on social media after the game because he thought the critique from Fox play-by-play announcer Joe Davis and analyst Greg Olsen about his body language and being a bad teammate was a "lie."

Nabers was intent on speaking up for himself against some of the things said about him on the broadcast.

"The thing about it is don't tell the world something that's not me," Nabers said. "I'm speaking for myself all the time because there is nobody else that is going to be able to speak up for me. So I'm going to use my own voice and be able to speak up about me being a bad teammate.

"I feel like that was just a lie, attacking my character as a football player and as a teammate. Like I said, I've never been on a team where anyone has called me a bad teammate that I know of."

The Fox broadcast showed Nabers seemingly upset during Sunday's 19-11 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Nabers had five catches on eight targets for 43 yards in the win, the first time since Week 3 that he has been held to fewer than 100 yards. It was Nabers' first career victory in Philadelphia and New York's first since 2013.

With the Giants nursing a 13-8 lead and driving early in the fourth quarter, New York quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw behind Nabers for an incompletion, with replays later showing the receiver waving the air and Olsen telling viewers that was a sign that Nabers wanted the ball thrown more in front of him. "His body language has been terrible today," Davis said.

Olsen then quickly added: "It's just not good."

There was more The Fox crew spent several minutes throughout the broadcast talking about Nabers.

In response to Nabers' post, Olsen said on social media that "at no point did we ever say he was a bad teammate."

But they were critical of Nabers' body language on the sideline. The star wide receiver took offense to that, saying the audience or broadcasters don't know what was being said on the sideline or whether he was mad or not. He intimated it was all guesswork.

"My body language in the same all the time," Nabers said. "My facial expressions are the same all the time. And I think a lot of people just don't know that. They don't know me. That's OK. Just don't tell the world who I am if you don't know who I am. I felt like I just had to speak up for myself."

Nabers said he hadn't spoken to Olsen since the game. But he would be open to a conversation with the former tight end.

"That was two days ago, three days ago, I'm focused on the [Washington Commanders] game right now," Nabers said. "If he wants to reach out, he can reach out. We can have a civil conversation. But I said what I said about the situation."

The Giants (5-2-1) are currently in first place in the NFC East and play the Commanders on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants locker room came to Nabers' defense on Tuesday. Several told ESPN they viewed him as a "good teammate." They also see him as emotional and competitive.

Running back Cam Skattebo said that Nabers needs to learn to control his emotions, but teammate and coaches also must adapt to the passion. It's especially not uncommon for wide receivers to want the football.

"When you have that caliber of player that is top 3 in the league, you have to understand he wants, he's demanding it, because he knows what he can do if you get him the ball. He knows what he's capable of when he has the power of the ball in his hands," Skattebo said. "And when you have a guy like that, you know, it's hard to go against them. And when he's frustrated, you understand why he's frustrated. He's not getting the ball. He's not getting the targets. And you understand that. "So as a teammate, you love to see that because you know how competitive he is."

Coach John Harbaugh also didn't seem to have a problem with Nabers' behavior on Sunday. He seemed to have a message for Olsen and the broadcast booth that it's probably best to avoid making judgments off body language.

"I don't make too much of it because I've just been living in that world for so long and kind of understand how that goes," Harbaugh said. "As far as body language, body language is interesting. It's definitely a language, and languages are interesting because they require interpretation sometimes, especially if you don't speak the language. ... I try to stay out of all that and probably good advice for others too."

Nabers is currently 11th in the NFL with 648 receiving yards in eight games despite coming off a serious knee injury. He already has four 100-yard games.