First, Evan Neal was asking Giants fans for louder boos.
Now, he’s asking for forgiveness.
The second-year tackle apologized Wednesday night for his harsh comments toward the fans and their criticism of the team after the Giants were embarrassed — and allowed 11 sacks — on “Monday Night Football” in a 24-3 loss to the Seahawks.
Neal had called out fans as “fair-weather” and “sheep” in an interview with NJ.com earlier Wednesday.
But he’s since changed his tune in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I am wrong for lashing out at the fans who are just as passionate and frustrated as I am,” Neal wrote. “I let my frustrations in my play + desire to win get the best of me. I had no right to make light of anyone’s job and I deeply regret the things I said.
“We are working day in and day out to grow as a team and this was an unnecessary distraction. I apologize.”
Monday’s ESPN broadcast captured Neal seemingly calling for fans to make noise from the sideline, yelling at them to boo louder as the team had trouble getting things going and protecting quarterback Daniel Jones.
But two days later, Neal had different thoughts about the fans’ anger.
“Why would a lion concern himself with the opinion of a sheep?” Neal told NJ.com. “The person that’s commenting on my performance, what does he do? Flip hot dogs and hamburgers somewhere?
“Because that just further shows that people are fair-weather. A lot of fans are bandwagoners. I mean, I get it: They want to see us perform well. And I respect all of that. But no one wants us to perform well more than we do.
“And how can you say you’re really a fan when we’re out there battling our asses off — and the game wasn’t going well — but the best you can do is boo your home team? So how much of a fan are you, really?”
Neal has struggled this season, and the Giants’ 1-3 start to the year has frustrated a fanbase that had high hopes after a playoff appearance and victory in the wild-card round last season.
The 23-year-old was given a 53.7 pass-blocking grade by Pro Football Focus and a 53.3 overall grade in the Giants’ loss to Seattle.
His 42.5 overall grade this season is 68th in the NFL among tackles.
Either way, Neal largely won’t have to worry too much about the fan reception he’ll get for the time being with the Giants on the road for the next two weeks, taking on the Dolphins and then the Bills.
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