\u201cI actually didn\u2019t even see it,\u201d Kafka said of Nabers\u2019 since-deleted tweet. \u201cAll I know is that I really like the call. I stand by it. I don\u2019t have any regrets about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kafka, who showed a firm hand two weeks ago by disciplining Abdul Carter with a one-series benching for missing a walk-through, said that he hasn\u2019t met with Nabers to discuss the public criticism because \u201cI haven\u2019t seen it.\u201d <\/p>\n
That seems like an odd choice, though the Brian Daboll-led Giants cut Nabers a ton of slack and involved him in everything from play-calling to the search for a franchise quarterback.<\/p>\n
![\"Giants](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Mike-Kafka.jpg\")
Giants interim coach Mike Kafka talks to the media during a press conference on Nov. 26, 2025. Robert Sabo for New York Post<\/p>\n
Nabers wrote: \u201cSometimes I think they [be] making us lose on purpose! Cause it\u2019s no way, bro you throw the ball instead of runnin\u2019 it to make \u2018em burn two timeouts?? Then you [don\u2019t] kick the field goal??? Then they have to go down and score!!! Football common sense!!! Am I missing something?\u201d<\/p>\n
By going for it on fourth down, the Giants added 7.1 percent to their win probability, per ESPN analytics. Jameis Winston threw an incompletion, an untrustworthy defense allowed the game-tying field goal and the Giants lost in overtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of the NFL is that the players have the ability to express themselves,\u201d Kafka said. \u201cYou can express yourself any way you want. Any player, they are going to have an opinion on what they like to see, but at the end of the day, those are the calls we have to make on game day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nabers, who is out for the season with a torn ACL, has shifted his rehab from the Dallas area back to East Rutherford, so there is ample opportunity to iron out any awkwardness.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s something that\u2019s detrimental to the team, we\u2019ll address it in-house and talk through it and move on,\u201d Kafka said. \u201cIf things happen, we talk about it and communicate it, like we always do.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Trump said on Truth Social that \u201cit was crazy\u201d and \u201cweird\u201d for the Giants to not kick a chip-shot field goal and take a 6-point lead with 2:59 remaining.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in this position, you get the opportunity to make tough calls,\u201d Kafka said. \u201cFor me, that\u2019s awesome. You get it down to the wire, two-minute, end of game, where you have to take a tough call. That\u2019s a huge responsibility, and something I enjoy doing.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is going to have an opinion. That\u2019s OK. I\u2019m going to do the best I can for myself and for the team first to give us an opportunity to win. Whoever it was \u2014 a player, a coach, my aunt and uncle, my dad \u2014 I heard it from everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
And how did he reply?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever that situation is, that\u2019s where we have to thrive and that\u2019s where we have to turn the table in terms of our team,\u201d Kafka said. \u201cWhen it\u2019s nut-cutting time, at the end of the game when you have to make a play, we\u2019re going to go make a play to win it. I want our guys thinking like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
DT Dexter Lawrence (elbow) did not practice Thursday after he was limited in Sunday\u2019s game and said by Kafka to be \u201cin tears\u201d that he couldn\u2019t contribute more. <\/p>\n
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (shoulder) and ILB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (neck) didn\u2019t practice. There was no official injury report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Kafka\u2019s critics include Malik Nabers, President Trump and his own dad. Most Giants fans are worried only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[12,15356,26704,977,349,99],"class_list":["post-316275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-donald-trump","tag-malik-nabers","tag-mike-kafka","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}