EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Brian Daboll is so impressed with Malik Nabers, he's letting the rookie wide receiver call plays.

Not all the time, of course. But during the Giants' training camp practice today, Daboll solicited Nabers' input on one particular call. Nabers was thrilled to comply. And given that he's an ultra-talented wideout who caught 21 touchdown passes at LSU, Nabers didn't exactly surprise anyone with his decision.

"It's a great feeling," Nabers said. "Dabs asked me what play I wanted to call, and I said, 'Well, let's throw a go ball. And (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) came up to me, like, 'What do you want, you want to check out of the press (coverage)?' I said, 'Nah, off, press, just throw it up.' He was like, 'I got you.' The chemistry showed."

It did with a flourish. Nabers' call resulted in a long pass from Jones as the receiver straddled the right sideline. Nabers, the Giants' first-round draft choice this year, got a step on cornerback Deonte Banks, the team's top pick in 2023, in what is quickly becoming one of the most competitive and entertaining training camp matchups in years. Earlier in the workout, Banks blanketed Nabers so completely Jones' pass caromed off the back of the cornerback's helmet.

After practice, Nabers was understandably focused on the fact that Daboll let him call a play in his third pro practice and it resulted in a big gain.

"It shows how much trust he has to give me the ball in open space or just let me run any route I want," Nabers said. "So, to have that, as a head coach that's got trust in you when you come into the third day of training camp, they try to understand how good of a player I am. For him to just ask me what kind of play I want and for him to call it, it shows how much trust he has in me."

Daboll became an avid fan of Nabers during the draft evaluation process and his enthusiasm for the rookie's skills and personality have continued to grow.

"I've seen it every day I've been around him - his mentality is the mentality you need to have," Daboll said. "He's humble, but he works extremely hard. We've moved him in a lot of places. I'd say for a young receiver, a lot of times you put (them) at one spot. So, it's a credit to him and the amount of work that he puts in. He knows he's got a long way to go. It's just a couple practices, but obviously we thought he was a good player where we selected him (sixth overall).

"I told you I love the person. I love his competitive desire, his will, his grit, if you will. But he knows he's (three) days in. He's had OTAs. He's not where he wants to be. No one is, not anyone on our roster, not any coach, but he's got the right mindset."

Nabers is a passionate competitor who admits he is unhappy when he doesn't get the ball early and often in a game. Opponents are no doubt aware of this and will design schemes to limit his production. Nabers can't let his intensity lead to frustration.

"It's something that I have to pipe down a little bit," he said. "Sometimes I might talk to myself, and I might go talk to (second-year receiver) Jalin (Hyatt) and they'd be like, 'Either don't show it or just (go to the) next play.' Cause you know, half of the time, sometimes I might miss a ball. It might be overthrown. I didn't look at it right. And I'd be like, 'Damn, I missed that.' And they might just get over, get over, get over. But how I am, how my dog is like, I could have made that play. And sometimes I want to go back in time and try to see if I can catch that kind of ball, but it's the next play mentality. I think you're talking about when I don't get the ball, I had to key that in college. That's just how it is. That's how receivers are."

Daboll personalized it for Nabers but is confident the young receiver's makeup will be strictly positive.

"I just think that's who he is," Daboll said. "He's competitive. He wants to do well, and he's willing to do anything he can do to be as good as he can be. He knows he hasn't played in the league. There's going to be some rough spots, whenever those come up, and we're here for him. He's here for us. We communicate. We work well together, but I don't want to let him lose who he is. Be who you are."

If Nabers does that, he will be very good for the Giants.

*One of the episodes of the Giants' offseason chronicled on "Hard Knocks" revealed that both the Giants and Jets had interest in signing guard Jon Runyan, Jr., who played his first four seasons in Green Bay, so joining the Jets would have resulted in a reunion with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

"Going through this process, I was trying to figure out what teams were interested, and obviously both the Jets and Giants had offensive line needs at the time," Runyan said. "I've got a really good relationship with coach Hackett … and obviously I played with Aaron for three years, and they have a lot of other Green Bay guys over there. So, I kind of felt comfortable and I really thought that the Jets were going to kind of be at the forefront of that. And they came in, made an offer. In the end it all worked out, the money's the money, whatever.

"But I really believe in (general manager) Joe (Schoen) and (assistant general manager) Brandon (Brown) and what Dabs (coach Brian Daboll) and Carm (offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo) and everybody else in the building is building here. I like how this team is built from top to bottom on the offensive side of the ball, especially we have playmakers all around. The O-line is going to be really solid, I firmly believe that. And we just got to give our quarterback time there to make plays. And other than that, it's going to be really exciting."

*Jermaine Eluemunor returned to right tackle, though he did split first-team reps with Josh Ezeudu. Eluemunor was limited to individual work yesterday after injuring his ribs in Wednesday's first camp practice.

*Rookie safety Tyler Nubin and defensive lineman Timmy Horne each missed practice with calf issues. Daboll said Nubin's calf is "a little tight," but is hopeful the second-round draft choice will return to the field Sunday after tomorrow's day off.