FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New York Giants first-round pick Abdul Carter was benched for the first quarter of Monday night’s 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots because of tardiness. It was the second time in three games that the rookie linebacker was disciplined.
Giants interim coach Mike Kafka described it as a coach’s decision. “My decision,” he said repeatedly.
Carter sat out two drives, both of which resulted in points for the Patriots. By the time he entered the contest, the Giants trailed 17-0.
Carter was asked after the game why he was disciplined for the second time in three weeks.
“S— happens,” he said. “I’m not going to get into details. S— happens.”
It’s costing him playing time — and hurting his team. Carter was supposed to start. Except he was told earlier in the week that he would spend the first quarter on the bench as a punishment.
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Getting used to life as a professional has been an adjustment for the third pick in this year’s draft out of Penn State.
“I guess you can say that. But I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” Carter said. “Like I said, I have to be better. I have to take pride in what I do, be where I have to be at. Simple as that.”
Kafka, Carter and the Giants weren’t willing to provide specifics of the infraction this time around, only that Carter was again late.
It has been a problem throughout the season.
“I mean, it is definitely frustrating. But you got to stay on [young players], and you got to help them learn from these mistakes,” Giants veteran defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II said. “And we all made them. We’ve all been late. We’ve all had moments like that. But you just got to learn from them.”
Carter also was benched for the opening drive of a Nov. 16 home game against the Green Bay Packers because he missed a walk-through. The Giants thought he was asleep, though Carter said he was getting treatment.
Regardless, he didn’t seem to learn the lesson the first time. Carter said he did this time. Except first, he had to sit on the sideline while the Patriots (11-2) scored a field goal and a touchdown on their first two drives. In between, New England returned a punt for a score.
“I let my team down [Monday night],” Carter said. “First two drives, I was out. They scored 17 points. I take responsibility for that. I have to do better.”
Giants defensive captain Brian Burns said he thinks this time was different than the first benching.
“I think it got through,” Burns said of Carter. “I think it was just an honest mistake.”
Carter eventually entered the game for the Giants’ first defensive series of the second quarter. He made a quick impact, recording a sack on quarterback Drake Maye to end the New England drive.
Kafka imposed last month’s discipline to stress accountability. He initially described it as a “coach’s decision” after the loss to the Packers.
“I made a mistake during the week that was detrimental to the team,” Carter said after that incident. “That was the consequence of it. Got to live with it.”
This is the second instance in which Carter has lost playing time since Kafka took over for Brian Daboll, who was fired last month. Several players have told ESPN that accountability has been a problem for the Giants (2-11).
Why did it happen again with Carter?
“Hardheaded, man. Hardheaded,” Lawrence said. “I don’t know. And I mean, to his defense, the schedule is kind of shaky a little bit. But you got to be a pro and know where you got to be and when you got to be there.”
The Giants have now lost seven straight overall and a franchise-record 13 consecutive away games dating to last season.
Carter entered Monday’s game with just half a sack in 12 games, despite being second on the team with 12 quarterback hits. He had four tackles and the sack in the final three quarters Monday night.
“Listen, when he came back in the game, you saw the kind of impact he had and the player this guy is,” Kafka said. “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.”
