Giants' Abdul Carter defends himself after concerning report

A report from Monday stated that New York Giants rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter was benched for the opening series of the team's 27-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday because he "was asleep in the team facility" and "missed a walk-through leading up to the game." 

Carter later claimed, in a since-deleted social media post, that he was "actually doing recovery" when he missed the walk-through. While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, he said the situation occurred due to a misunderstanding after interim head coach Mike Kafka changed the practice schedule. 

Abdul Carter made "honest mistake" ahead of Packers game

"My mistake was an honest mistake," Carter explained, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. "I own the fact that it was an honest mistake. I was getting treatment, and I told Coach Kafka that, too. But to say I was sleeping at that time just wasn't true. And it also wasn't a trend. This was the only time it happened."

On Monday, The Athletic's Dan Duggan reported that "being late to meetings has been a trend during Carter’s rookie season that former coach Brian Daboll let slide." The Giants parted ways with Daboll shortly after they fell to 2-8. 

Carter has not yet lived up to the hype as the game-changing defensive player many expected when the Giants took the former Penn State star as the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He only recorded 0.5 sacks in his first 11 games while playing alongside Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. 

ESPN stats show Burns ended Week 11 with the league's second-most sacks (13). Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns leads the NFL with 15 sacks.

Why Abdul Carter felt need to address report 

While Carter accepted blame for what happened last week, he also indicated he wanted to clear his name after Monday's concerning report. 

"I don't want anonymous sources to say these types of things about me that are untrue," Carter added. "I did make a mistake, and I own up to what I did."

Carter's next chance to impress will be when the 2-9 Giants face the Detroit Lions (6-4) this Sunday. As of Tuesday morning, ESPN BET had Big Blue as a 10.5-point underdog for that game.