Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter — this year’s third overall draft pick — found himself on the sideline to start Monday night’s game in New England.
For the second time in three games under interim head coach Mike Kafka, Carter was reportedly benched for tardiness issues.
After the Giants finished getting spanked 33-15 by the Patriots, Carter addressed reporters about his latest benching — and about the idea that he maybe isn’t getting the message here.
Carter — who the Giants need to be a foundational player — bristled when asked why he was benched for the Patriots’ first two drives, before finally getting on the field to open the second quarter.
“S— happens,” he said. “I ain’t going to get into details. But like I said, s— happens.”
Those two words sum up this disastrous Giants season perfectly.
When asked if the benching was justified, Carter said, “I let my team down today. I’ve got to be out there. I’ve got to do better. It’s sickening [to be on the bench to open a game]. Sick to my stomach.”
He offered a one-word answer — “yeah” — to a question about whether the message got through this time.
Kafka’s predecessor, Brian Daboll, didn’t hold Carter accountable enough (or at least not to this degree) for tardiness issues. But Carter isn’t publicly blaming Kafka for the benching. (He would be foolish to do that.)
“It’s not him,” Carter said. “It’s me.”
So what’s different about this time, in terms of the message getting through?
“I wouldn’t say it’s something different,” he said. “It’s just that I’ve got to do better. Simple as that.”
Carter addressed his teammates about this latest benching.
“I let them down today,” he said, adding that he learned this past week that he would miss Monday’s first quarter.
Looking ahead, Carter said, “I’ve been through worse things, so I’ll be all right.”
But has his acclimation to the NFL been tougher than he expected?
“I guess you could say that, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” he said. “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to take pride in what I do, be where I have to be at. Simple as that.”
Two games ago, during a home loss to the Packers, Carter was benched for just the first drive — reportedly because he slept through a walk-through practice. Carter denied being asleep, but admitted missing the practice.
After that, Carter took accountability for his mistake. But then lateness issues (reportedly related to a team meeting) landed him on the bench yet again to begin Monday night’s game. So this is a significant problem.
Tardiness has been an ongoing issue for Carter during his rookie year — an immature, self-inflicted set of mistakes. And he’s running out of time to salvage what was supposed to be a special debut season.
