Malik Nabers stood up for his comments after Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers, telling reporters on Tuesday that he has the pedigree to call out deficiencies with the team, regardless of his status as a rookie.
BT and Sal took some issue with Nabers initially calling out the play calling and his lack of targets after Sunday’s loss, and after the rookie wide receiver doubled down on Tuesday, they now have an even bigger problem.
But the issue goes beyond Nabers now, as they both believe the situation is not a good look for Brian Daboll.
“Malik Nabers doubled down off of the comments we took issue with after the game on Sunday,” Sal said. “To me, this is a major problem and an indictment on the head coach and where the organization is at when you have a rookie doubling down on disrespectful comments to begin with.
“If Daboll is okay with Nabers saying what he said on Sunday and then doubling down, then he isn’t who I thought he was...we are crossing the line of being disrespectful to your head coach...and setting a bad example for the rest of your team.”
BT is fine with players expressing frustration and taking a step back after allowing themselves to decompress, but for Nabers to dig in even deeper after being days removed from the loss, and for him to have the confidence to do so, that says something about the culture under Daboll.
“I like confidence, but I don’t like arrogance or selfishness, especially from a rookie,” BT said. “I know this isn’t the old days...and that’s fine, but you still have to have a sense of where you are in the pecking order of the team.
“Now you have time to decompress, think about it and understand what happened and have conversations with the head coach, and now you come back and double down? It’s a bad look for Nabers and a worse look for the head coach, who right now seems like he has zero control of the team.”
Nabers is a promising rookie and a sixth overall pick that has shown flashes of stardom, but overall, Sal says he hasn’t done nearly enough to warrant such comments, especially when they seemingly express frustration that mainly stems from him not getting the ball enough.
“I don’t care who you are. You have done nothing here,” Sal said. “I have seen plenty of receivers with worse quarterbacks and had more success.”