Malik Nabers Defended Russell Wilson After Tough Debut vs. Commanders

The Giants named Russell Wilson the starting quarterback before the start of training camp, but since they traded up to draft Jaxson Dart, it felt like it was only matter of time before fans and media called for the rookie to get a shot under center.

Turns out, it only took one game for the calls for Dart to begin. Wilson made his debut for the Giants on Sunday against the Commanders, and New York's offense continued its long-running struggles. Wilson completed 17-of-37 pass attempts—less than 50%—for 168 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. The Giants failed to score a touchdown or get much going offensively at all, falling to Washington 21-6.

Despite a tough outing, his top wide receiver, Malik Nabers, stood up for Wilson after the game.

"Russ did a great job distributing the ball when he can," Nabers told reporters on Sunday. "We've got to be better as a whole offense of trying to get open with Russ. We had a lot of plays that needed to be made, myself included. Russ was putting the ball in some great spots, we've just gotta come up with the catches. Gotta be open when he needs us to be open. We took that as a whole offense, we all gotta be better as a whole. One person changing isn't going to do better, we've still got to all be better for ourselves."

Malik Nabers is asked about the Giants' QB situation, Russell Wilson, and Jaxson Dart:

"We've got to be better as a whole offense...Russ was putting the ball in some great spots. One person changing isn't going to do better, we've still got to be better for ourselves." pic.twitter.com/9EqRiJvhfs
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) September 8, 2025

The Giants do plan on sticking with Wilson as their starter for now, but that won't stop the clamoring for Dart if the offense doesn't show significant improvements.

While Wilson's performance left much to be desired and he is past his prime, not a ton of players have seen great success in the Giants offense lately. There's a reason Saquon Barkley played much better with the Eagles last year, and though just one game, Daniel Jones looked improved with the Colts on Sunday. As Nabers points out, changing quarterbacks won't necessarily solve the team's problems, especially when Dart would get thrown in as a rookie to try and salvage the team's offense.