The Malik Nabers-Sauce Gardner matchup never happened at the Giants-Jets practice

Updated Aug. 21, 2024 6:16 p.m. ET

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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The much-anticipated matchup between Giants playmaking rookie receiver Malik Nabers and Jets two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner never materialized as the New York City-based teams staged a joint practice Wednesday.

Other than an incomplete pass from Daniel Jones to Nabers in an early 7-on-7 passing drill, the two men really didn't go head to head on any long passes in the two-hour practice at the Jets' practice facility.

The Giants and Jets will meet Saturday night in the final preseason game for both teams before coaches have to reduce their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday.

Nabers, the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, caught some passes in the workout, but most were 10 to 15-yard throws. He has put on a show going against the Giants' defensive backs all camp, going deep at least once a practice.

Giants coach and play-caller Brian Daboll didn't have Jones and Nabers go deep against Gardner, who has been one of the best shutdown cornerbacks in his two seasons in the league.

“That’s a question for Dabs,” Nabers said when asked about the matchup not happening.

Nabers did have a chance to go deep in the final 11-on-11 two-minute drill. Jones tossed a long pass down the left sideline after Nabers beat cornerback D.J. Reed. The LSU product twisted his body around and had the ball in his hands before dropping it.

“Yeah, it bothered me pretty bad,” Nabers said of the drop. “If I had to do it again, I would work on something different on catching the ball. I’ll just go look at it, see what I can do better, and just practice that. Practice getting my eyes around faster and finding the ball in the air.”

Nabers said the pass was on target but he lost sight of the ball when he spun his body and didn't pick it up quickly enough to make the catch.

“It was just a drop,” he said. “I just have to try to catch it better, I guess,” the 21-year-old said.

The Jets defense played well during the practice and the Giants did not score in either of their late two-minute possessions.

Gardner took the opportunity after the last drive under Tommy DeVito failed to wave goodbye to the Giants.

“I mean, they can do that,” Nabers said. “They won on the day. Their defense came out here and executed well. We beat ourselves today. So, it’s about really going back into our playbook, going back into trying to be us, trying to find this team that we trying to look for. It’s going back to the preparation.”

Jones wasn't overly disappointed with the way the offense played. He said it would have been a lift for the Giants had Nabers been able to haul in the pass near the goal line.

“We all got to make plays,” said Jones, who is coming off ACL surgery. “Stuff like that’s going to happen. You know, we had a chance to come back and still convert, so we got to do that. But, yeah, certainly feels different if we convert that two-minute situation.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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