Giants rookie safety Tyler Nubin pointed out one noticeable difference between NFL and college football on Monday: in the pros, offensive stars create plenty of exceptions to the rule.
“It’s definitely more of a matchup-based league than college,” Nubin said. “Formations will tell you a lot, but if you’ve got [Vikings receiver] Justin Jefferson over there at the ‘X,’ the formation’s not telling you sh-t. The ball is going over there.”
Malik Nabers was drafted to be the Giants’ version of Jefferson, the weapon that creates exceptions to the rule. And so far he has been as advertised during training camp, versatile and explosive, including in joint practices against the Detroit Lions.
But with Nabers now sidelined by a practice injury initially believed to be a left ankle sprain, his absence suddenly begs the question of how the Giants might function without him.
Backup quarterback Drew Lock admitted on Monday, for example, that while the Giants have the skill players to pick each other up, it can be tricky at times for a QB to retrain his brain to read the field differently if a top weapon like Nabers is out.
“It can be like that depending on the play that’s called,” Lock said. “When you’re working progression reads or two-high [safety], one-high reads — yeah, I know No. 9 is over there. But if it’s two-high and I’m supposed to go this [other] way, [it’s not]. [With] certain man-to-man concepts or alerting them in man-to-man, yeah, that could be a difference. But it just depends on the play.”
Second-year speedster Jalin Hyatt provided a reminder on Monday, though, that behind the Giants’ new star lurks a Biletnikoff Award winner as the top receiver in college football in 2022.
Hyatt caught a deep touchdown over top of the defense on a bomb from Daniel Jones, which is on every scouting report for the former Tennessee standout. But later Hyatt powered inside for a red zone touchdown on a slant route against a confused Giants defense, demonstrating that if he gets that opportunity, he is just as willing and capable of punching it in.
“I’m just trying to show the coaches I can do everything,” Hyatt told the Daily News in a quiet moment after practice. “I’m confident in myself, confident in my abilities. I feel like I can run anything I need to run. When that happens, you gotta take advantage of your opportunities and make the most of it. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Understand: although Nabers was not even on the sideline Monday, the Giants are acting as if his ankle injury is not going to sideline him for too long.
Head coach Brian Daboll said “I don’t think it’s fractured” of Nabers’ ankle or foot, even though he said the Giants’ “medical people” were “still doing [their] evaluation on him” and did not acknowledge an MRI or X-ray had occurred yet.
And Hyatt echoed that Nabers’ injury is “nothing major.”
“That’s something you don’t want to see,” Hyatt said of Nabers’ Sunday injury. “He’s gonna be fine. He’s gonna be alright. It wasn’t nothing major or anything. So he’ll be good. But you don’t wanna see that.”
He admitted the Giants’ players held their breath a little bit when they saw Nabers limp off the field, but their prevailing sentiment now appears to be relief.
“It’s practice, young guy, and he’s gonna be a key factor for us,” Hyatt continued. “Seeing him go down, yeah, we were all kinda like, ‘Ohh.’ But he’s gonna be alright, though. He’ll be good.”
That said, “when one of your key guys goes down, the other receivers gotta step up,” Hyatt said. And that’s what happened Monday when Jones had time to throw: slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was Jones’ favorite target, while Darius Slayton, Hyatt and tight end Theo Johnson all made plays, too.
Daboll actually worked a lot on the running game in a long, physical padded practice that also emphasized two-minute drills and red zone work. Eric Gray and Tyrone Tracy Jr. factored in, and Devin Singletary saw a ton of touches with both the starting and backup offenses.
Hyatt’s deep touchdown, though — which only happened after a Brian Burns sack, to be clear — is the kind of play that Daboll needs from his other receivers to truly replace the every-down explosive threat element that Nabers provides when he’s on the field.
“It’s a big, big emphasis,” Hyatt said of Daboll, Jones and the receivers prioritizing pushing the ball downfield. “It opens up the whole playbook when we can start doing play action, start running the ball, doing inside zone, outside zone, get the running backs running. [When] the safeties come down, that’s when we have our shots. It causes stress for the corners. It causes stress with their eyes.
“There’s a lot of things you need in the offense,” Hyatt added. “You need explosive plays to do what you want to do on offense so the playbook is opened for anything. I feel like last year we were limited with that, we didn’t really have that many explosive plays last year and that’s the reason why. This year’s a new year for us.”
Hyatt did unlock his explosive ability at times last season, including his season-best five catches for 109 yards in a Week 12 home win over the New England Patriots. But then he fell off and only managed a total of six catches for 43 yards in the final five games of the season.
As someone used to being the best offensive weapon on every field, Hyatt admitted that stretch was “hard” for him.
“It was hard,” Hyatt told the News. “I came off the Patriots game, it was my first 100-yard game, and then the next week it was kinda hard for me to get a target. It plays with you mentally, especially for me coming from Tennessee, getting the ball almost every play, having 1,000 yards, scoring touchdowns. It was difficult for me mentally.
“But I think it helped me,” he continued. “It helped me this offseason, prepared me, showed me what you gotta do to win. It’s hard to win in this league. And that’s the first taste I got of it.”
Hyatt remains in an outside rotation with Slayton entering his second NFL training camp and said the path to more regular playing time is “simple.”
“Being consistent. If you’re consistent, you stay on the field,” Hyatt said. “Getting open, catching the ball when it comes to you. When it’s not coming to you, are you still winning on your routes? Are you blocking downfield? There’s a lot of things the coaches wanna see.”
Once the Giants drafted Nabers, though, Hyatt said the receivers knew he could help elevate everyone.
“I love that we got Malik,” he said. “He can do everything. And for us, it just opens up that playbook. Defenses, their eyes, they’ll be looking different ways now. At the end of the day it makes it easier for me. Malik’s gonna get his. I’m proud of him. He’s young and we’re gonna make sure he’s ready to do what he has to do. But it helps us as well. And I’m glad we got him.”
And if Nabers is out, Hyatt said that just means it’s time for everyone to do more.
“That’s our mindset going into this year: It’s not gonna be a perfect year for us. Injuries happen. It’s football,” Hyatt said. “That’s why you have those other receivers. That’s what we do. We’re supposed to make plays when the ball comes to us.”