Giants' Abdul Carter offers no real answer for latest benching in loss to Patriots

New York Giants rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter was benched for the first quarter of the club's 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday night after he reportedly missed all or part "of a team responsibility." 

It was the second time in three games that interim head coach Mike Kafka sat Carter because of tardiness. After the defeat that dropped the Giants to 2-11 on what's become a disastrous season for the club, Carter offered no real answer for his latest infraction.

Abdul Carter eventually takes responsibility for benching

"S— happens," Carter said when asked why he was disciplined again, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN. "I'm not going to get into details. S—happens."

Carter later acknowledged he has "to be better," "take pride in what I do" and "be where I have to be at." 

Carter was benched for the opening series of the Giants' 27-20 Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 16 after he missed a walk-through leading up to that game. Dan Duggan of The Athletic subsequently 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 on Nov. 10. On Monday, the Giants fell into a 17-0 hole before Carter played a defensive snap. One of New England's first two touchdowns was a 94-yard punt return. 

"I let my team down [Monday night]," Carter added during his postgame comments. "First two drives, I was out. They scored 17 points. I take responsibility for that. I have to do better."

Mike Kafka voices support for Abdul Carter despite latest mistake

Carter recorded four tackles and the first full regular-season sack of his career over the final three quarters of what became a blowout on Monday. The third overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft has now tallied 1.5 sacks in 13 games. 

"Listen, when he came back in the game, you saw the kind of impact he had and the player this guy is," Kafka said about Carter. "This is a kid that I, again, I back. I support this kid highly. And for any young player that we have on the roster, whether it's Abdul or any rookie or young player, we're going to make sure we take him under our wing and continue to develop these guys because they're important to us. They're important to me. That was my decision, my decision only. Anything else outside of it is going to be kept in-house."

Kafka's audition to win the full-time Giants job will continue after the club comes off its Week 14 bye with a home game versus the Washington Commanders (3-9) on Dec. 14. It remains to be seen how much playing time Carter will earn with his actions ahead of that contest.