It was one of the first instructions he received in his NFL career and Malik Nabers did not simply accept it and move on.
“It’s hard,’’ he said.
What could possibly be hard about Day 1 of rookie minicamp?
Well, Nabers was told by Mike Groh, the Giants’ wide receivers coach, that he “would not be participating in everything’’ in Friday’s light 75-minute practice.
“And I told him ‘Why?’ ’’ Nabers said.
“That competitiveness in me is always going to show,’’ he explained.
No, Nabers did not get to run routes in the 7-on-7 drills inside the fieldhouse, as coach Brian Daboll limited that drill to players attending the camp on a tryout basis.
What Nabers did do is join in some position drills and mostly watch and learn and take in all he could about this new NFL world he has entered.
“Surreal,’’ Nabers said. “I’ve got to keep telling myself, continue to work hard, all your dreams came through but it’s time to move forward from all that, all that’s over.’’
Yes, Nabers can put behind him the grind that took him from his childhood in Louisiana to what evolved into an exceptional career at LSU to his impressing the Giants so completely that they made him the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
He made it.
And yet, the first impression of Nabers is that he is not too cool for any of this.
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He seems appreciative of everything taking place in his life, sounding less like a high draft pick eager for stardom and more like a 20-year old who understands what it took to get here and what it will take to excel here.
Before taking the field, Nabers went upstairs at the Giants’ facility and signed his first NFL contract, a four-year deal expected to come in at $29.2 million, including a signing bonus of $18.1 million.
The magnitude of the moment was not lost on him.
“When I put my name on that paper I was kinda shaking a little bit and I got emotional,’’ he said. “The job’s not done but another stage in my life was done. For me to make it to this part of my life and my journey, it was a pat on my back in that moment.’’
Nabers said last week he finalized the purchase of a house for his mother, Tonya — her first house, he said.
“That was the most important thing in my life I’d probably say, having her have her own house, feel comfortable and not having to worry about bills to pay, to know her little boy did it for her,’’ Nabers said.
Describing what he is like, Nabers said, “I’m a funny person to be around, a good person to be around, as a person that plays football, the kind of thing that saved my life so I take it serious.’’
Football saved his life?
“It was the only thing I felt like I could do in my life,’’ he explained. “It’s the only thing I felt like, when I looked on what I wanted to do in the future, it was the only thing I had plans to do. So it saved me and my family’s life. Football put my mom in a house that she wants, it changed my life forever.’’
The Giants were attracted to Nabers’ talent and skill-set as an offensive weapon capable of stretching any defense.
They got to know him better early in the draft process, meeting with him at the scouting combine in Indianapolis and Nabers was impressed how relaxed Daboll made him feel.
“He’s a good young man,’’ Daboll said. “I like to think we have fun in the meeting rooms. But we’ve got a job to do and he has to pick up our system as quick as we can. We’re going to do everything we can to help him.
“Mature young guy. We’ve had some good conversations between when he was drafted and now, and some good Zooms and introduction to how we do things and some of our terminology. Happy to have him. Competitive guy. Look forward to working with him.’’
Nabers reached up and extended his body to make a catch in his first practice but this was not about highlights for him.
The Giants anticipate those exploits will follow, once he learns the system and the veterans are mixed in later this spring and on into training camp this summer.
“For right now it’s just learning the playbook, interacting with my teammates, interacting with the rookies here,’’ Nabers said. Trying to learn how to be a Giant, following all the instructions and the rules that they have. Being a pro, at the end of the day.’’