New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh was impressed with rookie wide receiver Malachi Fields after the team’s 13-10 preseason loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday afternoon.
Harbaugh praised Fields for his all-around performance, highlighted by a contested touchdown catch from quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Dart found Fields on the left side of the end zone for the score with 13:32 remaining in the second quarter. The 6-foot-4 Fields elevated over 5-foot-10 Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. to secure the ball.
“I thought he played all around really well,” Harbaugh said. “He did some things on special teams, which was cool to see. He practices that every day really well. He blocked exceptionally well in the run game as a wide receiver in some of those insert blocks and going to get to safeties and things like that, tremendously. Thought he ran his routes really well.
“Even when he didn’t get the ball, the routes were run correctly. Right depths, right amount of steps, right splits. All those things that make so much of a difference that, really honestly, we need to clean up across the board to present better pictures for our quarterback. He did all those things really well. He didn’t play like a rookie out there. It was really fun to see. Now, hey, keep getting better.”
Asked about Fields building on the strong showing, Harbaugh pointed to the rookie’s personality and drive.
“I’m not going to make the assumption that he’s going to get comfortable. I don’t think that’s his personality at all. His personality is kind of exactly what you would want it to be. He’s going to be even more determined to continue to improve. That’s just who he is,” Harbaugh said.
“There’s no way he’s going to get the big head. That’s not what he’s about so I expect him to keep improving. I know he will. And if you ask him, he’ll probably tell you the three, four, five things he didn’t do well. That’s what he’ll be thinking about.”
Fields will have another opportunity to impress in the Giants’ next preseason game, a road matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants’ John Harbaugh: Malachi Fields ‘didn’t play like a rookie’
Reporting by Matt Legros, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Matt Legros, Giants Wire | USA TODAY Network
