Giants' Abdul Carter shares warning for Commanders' Jayden Daniels ahead of return from injury

While Washington Commanders starting quarterback Jayden Daniels hasn't played since he suffered a dislocated left elbow on Sept. 20, he is on track to start when 1-3 Washington hosts the rival New York Giants (3-1) this coming Sunday. 

That game is expected to take place in rainy and windy conditions. Additionally, Daniels admitted on Wednesday that he is "trying to get used to" the protective brace he will wear for his elbow during games. 

Giants plan to do "bad things" to Jayden Daniels

During a recent chat with Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media, Giants pass-rusher Abdul Carter warned that he and his teammates plan to achieve "a lot of good things" during this Sunday's matchup at Northwest Stadium.

"A lot of good things for us — and bad things for [Daniels]," Carter said. 

Thus far, a Giants defense that lost star pass-rusher Brian Burns for the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury in Week 3 hasn't yet done many "bad things" to opposing quarterbacks. Specifically, ESPN stats show that the Giants head into Week 5 ranked last in the NFL with just three sacks on the campaign. 

That said, Scott Rogust of GMen HQ shared that Carter recorded nine quarterback pressures, eight of which occurred in less than 2.5 seconds, in New York's 36-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 4. While Carter was credited with 14 pass-rush wins, the Giants had a 28.2 percent quarterback pressure rate and a 32.8 percent blitz rate in the Week 4 victory. 

"I do think sacks are overrated," Carter told Slater. "Obviously, it looks the best — getting to the quarterback and getting that negative play. But at the same time, when you hit a quarterback, they feel it. They don't want to get hit. It forces them to make quick decisions, and they might throw a turnover. Pressure causes issues. So sacks are a little overrated. At the same time, you want them. But at the end of the day, it's about affecting the game, and it's about winning the game. You could have 20 sacks in a year and be on a losing team. You look good, but the whole team sucks. So as long as you get the win, I don't really care about how the sacks look."

Abdul Carter, Giants want to make Jayden Daniels uncomfortable

Per John Keim of ESPN, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn acknowledged on Wednesday that Daniels is "going to practice" how he could better protect himself in future games. Later that day, Daniels insisted that he could attempt to break off a big run "if it's the fourth quarter" of the game and "we've got to do something to win." 

It sounds like Carter and other Giants defenders will be ready to pounce whenever Daniels leaves the pocket. 

"If he's feeling like himself, obviously he's going to be a threat," Carter added about Daniels. "He can hurt you with his arm and legs. But it's going to be interesting to see how he handles playing with that elbow. Whenever we get close to him, we're going to make it an emphasis to get hands on him, make him feel us, put him on the ground. They're probably just going to scheme to get it out quick, keep him out of harm's way. Which is going to be hard, because given how he plays, he wants to create plays, extend plays."

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Giants as 3.5-point road underdogs against the Commanders.