Giants’ Abdul Carter Benched For Opening Series Of Week 11

The Giants were shorthanded along the edge in Week 11 with Kayvon Thibodeaux out of the lineup. That allowed Abdul Carter to take on an increased workload, but not until after the team’s first defensive series.

Interim head coach Mike Kafka benched Carter for the Packers’ opening drive. That amounted to six missed plays before Carter found himself on the field for every snap the rest of the way. The No. 3 pick addressed the matter after the Giants’ loss without going into detail on it.

“I made a mistake during the week that was detrimental to the team,” Carter said (via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post). “I already know that whatever I do is going to have consequences. That was the consequence, have to live with it, keep playing.”

Providing further details on the issue, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reports Carter missed a walk-through during the week leading up to the Packers game. He adds Carter was asleep in the team’s facility at the time of the walk-through. The 22-year-old has since denied that he was asleep, stating he was instead undergoing recovery. In any case, this led to Kafka’s decision to keep him on the sidelines for the opening series. Per Duggan, late attendance to team meetings has been a trend in Carter’s case which former head coach Brian Daboll tolerated without discipline. Carter wound up posting one quarterback hit on Sunday.

The Penn State product has been on the field for 71% of the Giants’ snaps during his rookie campaign. That workload has not yielded much in the way of production so far, however. Carter has recorded just 0.5 sacks, nine quarterback hits and 14 pressures in 2025. Brian Burns has enjoyed a strong season with a career-high 13 sacks and counting, while Thibodeaux has continued to operate as a regular along the edge.

Thibodeaux is a pending free agent, and a departure would pave the way for Carter to pair with Burns as the Giants’ edge tandem for years to come. All involved will be seeking improved production over the closing weeks of the season in Carter’s case, though. He will also look to avoid a repeat of this incident and in doing so avoid further team discipline.