Isaiah Likely Superlative In Giants Debut: 'that's What We Paid Him For'

It was a dream debut for Giants tight end Isaiah Likely as he hauled in two touchdown passes in New York's 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.

The big impact from the tight end, who signed as a free agent this offseason after spending his first four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and John Harbaugh,led the Giants with eight catches for 78 yards. The head coach said it was no surprise to him that Likely had an immediate impact on his new team.

"I kinda was," Harbaugh said when asked if he was expecting the big performance from Likely. "We paid him a lot; that's what we paid him for. And he did it."

The new acquisition, fresh off the three-year, $40 million deal he inked with his new squad, hauled in five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown on a 15-yard reception as he tapped his toes in the back corner of the end zone to give New York a 14-7 halftime lead. He added his second score on the opening drive of the second half, this time thanks to some creative play design from new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy on a two-yard toss from Jaxson Dart.

"The play before halftime was a great play to get me open; Jax threw me a great ball," Likely said about his first score. "The rest of the plays was just coming off me and Jax seeing defenses, reacting to ball. The coaches trust me to be a primary read sometimes. And when Jax trusts me to throw me the ball, I've gotta catch it."

Asked about being nervous waiting for the ball to come down when he's open, like he was on the first score, Likely said: "I never get nervous when the ball is coming down."

The cool demeanor came through on the money down for the Giants' offense, as the tight end is already looking to be a big safety blanket for his new quarterback on third down. 

Twice in the first half, Dart found his new tight end on third down to keep drives alive. The first went for 13 yards and set up the Giants at the three on the opening scoring drive. The second went for 19 yards and got Big Blue to midfield.

The biggest third-down hookups came late in the fourth with New York looking to salt away the game and protect an eight-point lead. Dart found Likely on a crossing route for a gain of 12 on a third-and-nine. Two plays later, when Big Blue needed three, Dart found the tight end for five and another first down.

Likely said he wasn't necessarily surprised to have already formed a connection with his new quarterback. 

"When you spend hours of film watching, talking ball all the time on and off the field," the tight end said. "Just trying to keep it mellow, and keep the talking to a minimum, and just letting your talent shine. We've been practicing day in, day out since training camp to getting out there and finally showing the world what we've been practicing."

The one blemish on the splendid debut came when Likely, who has had some issues with ball security during his time with Baltimore, got the ball knocked from his hands inside Giants territory. But fullback Pat Ricard, another former Raven, put his big body to use, smothering the loose ball on the final play of the first quarter.

"I was not happy about [that]," Harbaugh said of the fumble. "He knows he's gonna get that video at about three o'clock in the morning this morning with a comment.

"But he said, 'You can trust me, you can trust me.'... and I do trust him."