New York Giants pass-rusher Abdul Carter was benched for the first series of his team’s Week 11 game against the Green Bay Packers, but the rookie says there has been some false information spreading about what led to that decision.
Carter was expected to start in Sunday’s 27-22 loss to the Packers in place of the injured Kayvon Thibodeaux, but he remained on the sideline for New York’s entire first defensive series. There were reports that interim head coach Mike Kafka disciplined Carter for missing a walk-through during the week leading up to the game.
What was more embarrassing was that Carter was said to have been asleep at the Giants’ team facility during the walk-through he missed. The former No. 3 overall pick insisted on Tuesday that he was not sleeping, but rather receiving treatment.
Carter said Kafka had changed some of the Giants’ usual practice times and the rookie was unaware.
“My mistake was an honest mistake,” Carter told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “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.
“I don’t want anonymous sources to say these types of things about me that are untrue. I did make a mistake, and I own up to what I did.”
It does not sound like any other players were disciplined, so Carter must have been the only one who did not get the memo about the walk-through schedule changing. The same report that claimed Carter was sleeping also said tardiness has been an issue with Carter this season and something the former Penn State star got away with under former head coach Brian Daboll.
Carter has played in all 11 games for the Giants this season. He has 29 total tackles and only a half-sack, though he has generated a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Carter should have the walk-through schedule squared away now as New York prepares for a tough game against the Detroit Lions.
