Notebook: Malik Nabers shows off play-making ability

Nabers was asked if he felt more explosive on Sunday.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Nabers said. “I don’t know. I just felt good. Defensive guys were taking bad angles to the football. So, I was able to make a lot of good plays. I had the ball in my hands pretty early to where I could see the defenders and where they were coming from. So, I could make my adjustments way quicker. But that was really all. I just felt more loose and felt explosive when I got out there.

“I feel like Drew just delivered the ball well, on time and stayed in the pocket well. The offensive line gave him a tremendous amount of time for him to deliver the ball. So, I wasn’t surprised that he delivered the ball how he did. He just went out there, saw his guys get open and just delivered the football.”

In the game, Nabers exceeded both 100 catches (he has 104) and 1,000 yards (1,140), an extraordinary rookie season by any gauge, but particularly since he missed two games with a concussion. He can break Steve Smith’s Giants’ single season record of 107 receptions with four catches in the season finale in Philadelphia and needs 166 yards to top Odell Beckham, Jr.’s rookie record of 1,305.

Nabers is one of four rookies with 1,000 yards, the most first-year players in a season in NFL history. Those four players are two pairs of college teammates: Nabers and Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas, Jr. (1,179 yards) from LSU, and Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers (1,144) and the Chargers’ Ladd McConkey (1,054), who played together at Georgia.

Either Nabers or Bowers (108 receptions) will finish the season with the most catches by a rookie in history.

“It means a lot, coming in as a rookie to do those things,” Nabers said. “It’s been great for me to have the opportunity to do it. But I want to thank my offensive line, my quarterbacks that have been throwing me the ball, my receivers in my room. Even though they don’t get as many targets as I do a game, they still find a way to uplift me and encourage me every week at practice, and still continue to be proud of what I’ve done, be proud of what we have done as an organization, as a group. So, just having those guys alongside me it’s been a lot. It means a lot to me to have those guys and going out there and playing a football game with those guys.”

And it certainly means much to them to have a singular talent like Malik Nabers on their side.

*Four players did not practice today: linebacker Micah McFadden (neck), center John Michael Schmitz (ankle), tackle Evan Neal (rib/hip), and defensive lineman Armon Watts (knee). McFadden and Schmitz were inactive for the Indianapolis game. Watts was hurt in the game and has since undergone knee surgery.

Players limited in practice included linebackers Brian Burns (illness) and Ty Summers (neck), defensive backs Greg Stroman (shin) and Dee Williams (toe), defensive lineman Cory Durden (shoulder), and wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton (shoulder).