What did Giants coach Mike Kafka say about Malik Nabers' criticism?

What did Giants coach Mike Kafka say about Malik Nabers' criticism? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

What did New York Giants' coach Mike Kafka think of Malik Nabers' social media criticism of the team's playcalling in Week 12's loss to the Detroit Lions? Kafka said he hasn't seen it yet.

In an X post that was quickly deleted, Nabers said that it sometimes feels as though the Giants' coaches are "trying to make us lose on purpose." In particular, he criticized the playcalling late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Detroit Lions. On Wednesday, Kafka was asked about Nabers' criticism.

"I didn't even see it," Kafka said of Nabers' post. "All I know is I like the call. I stand by it. I don't have any regrets about it. I thought we were aggressive, trying to go win the game."

Leading 27-24, New York found itself deep in Detroit territory with a chance to put the game away. On a first-and-goal from the four-yard line, New York ran the ball, picked up two yards and forced the Lions to burn their first time-out. The Giants then opted to pass on second down, which resulted in an incomplete pass. A third down run lost four yards but forced Detroit to take its second time-out. Then, facing a fourth-and-goal from the six, Kafka kept the offense on the field. The attempt was unsuccessful. The Lions then moved down the field and tied the game with a field goal and eventually won in overtime.

To Nabers, it didn't make a lot of sense. If the Giants were going to run the ball twice, they should have then kicked the field goal to go up six points, forcing Detroit to score a touchdown. He called it "football common sense" before asking, "Am I missing something?"

Responding to a follow-up question, Kafka reiterated that he still hasn't seen the post and, as such, has not talked with Nabers about it.

"The beauty of the National Football League is the players have the ability to express themselves," he said. "That's the beauty of the National Football League. You can express yourself any way you want. The beauty of it is, I think any player, they're gonna go out there and they're gonna have an opinion of what they like to see. But at the end of the day, those are calls we gotta make on gameday. Those are calls we gotta make for the betterment of the team.

"I think players, obviously, they can respond any way they want to anything they want," Kafka added. "But if it's something that's detrimental to the team, we'll address it in-house, talk through it and move on."