Whether or not he’s on the New York Giants coaching staff past the 2025 season, interim coach Mike Kafka appears set on changing the team’s subpar culture.
The Giants reportedly benched rookie defensive lineman Abdul Carter for the team’s opening defensive series against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday for sleeping through the team’s walkthrough Saturday, a claim Carter refuted Monday.
The Giants (2-9) have lost five straight games, including their 27-20 defeat to the Packers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Kafka took over for previous coach Brian Daboll, who was fired after going 20-40-1 in three-and-a-half seasons leading the Giants.
Carter, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, has a half-sack, one fumble recovery and 23 tackles in 11 games and one start in his rookie season.
Abdul Carter Was Reportedly Benched For Sleeping
According to Dan Duggan of The Athletic, Carter’s punctuality has been an issue for much of this season, though Daboll had been “letting that slide” according to Duggan.
So when Carter wasn’t at the team walkthrough ahead of New York’s game against Green Bay — and was asleep inside the team facility — Kafka made an example of him. Carter was likely to start his second NFL game, since outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux was out Sunday with a shoulder injury.
The Giants, who had pulled ahead with a Devin Singletary touchdown on their opening possession, held the Packers to 24 yards on seven plays with Carter on the sidelines. But he did play as part of the punt-return unit on Daniel Whelan’s 34-yard punt.
Carter re-entered the game on the Packers’ second drive, which went for 62 yards over 13 plays and resulted in a game-tying touchdown. Carter finished with one tackle and one quarterback hit while playing 49 snaps on defense and four special-teams snaps.
Abdul Carter Said He Was Not Asleep During Walkthrough
Carter was supposed to make up a vaunted front four on defense that, outside of Brian Burns, has failed to deliver this year. Burns leads the NFC in sacks (13), and only trails Myles Garrett (15), but Carter, Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence have combined for 3.5 sacks and just eight tackles for loss through 11 games.
Yet, perhaps worse, Carter appeared to be falling victim to the Giants’ woeful culture. New York has won just one playoff game since 2012, and has played in just three since Super Bowl XLVI, yet Kafka seems interested in setting things straight.
âI made a mistake during the week that was detrimental to the team,â Carter said after the loss. âThat was the consequence, had to live with it.â
Carter pushed back against the report that he was sleeping on social media Monday.
“Was not [a]sleep, actually doing recovery,” Carter posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Nonetheless thatâs on ME!”
Carter has played 71 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps this season, even despite his struggles at staying on time and getting after opposing quarterbacks. The report of him sleeping clearly stung Carter, since he offered a cryptic tweet hinting Duggan’s reporting was both untruthful and unfair.
“When the hate donât work they start telling lies!” Carter posted.
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