Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner had no trouble finding flattering words for Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers after Wednesday’s practice, but he had a harder time finding flattering words for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
Gardner said via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com that Nabers was on the field “very suddenly” and would be a “very good player” in the league. His answer to a question about Jones began with a compliment and a recall of a play from practice before Gardner paused.
“He’s a good quarterback, you can understand that. I thought I could intercept him today … he had tried to throw the checkdown to Wan’Dale (Robinson) in the last minute. I thought I had the pick, but he kept it. I mean,” Gardner said in a video shared by several reporters.
At this point there was an awkward silence for about 10 seconds while Gardner looked around and grinned before finishing his thought.
“The competition was very competitive. It was great. I had fun out there today. I don’t really know what to say,” Gardner said.
Gardner responded to the video of his comments, which attracted attention on social media, by posting: “I said, ‘He is a good quarterback‘” and that he was “a little distracted” before adding a laughing emoji. The Giants will hope it won’t be so hard for them to find something good to say about Jones once the regular season begins.
