His locker was a popular meeting spot and Abdul Carter knew what was about to hit him.
“Might as well get this over with,’’ he said.
This was after practice Wednesday and Carter was the center of attention. This late in his rookie season, considering the explosive first summer he had with the Giants, there could have been an expectation that the crowd around him gathered to hear about his latest exploit. His strip-sack, perhaps. His tackle for loss, pinning a running back deep in the backfield. Maybe a forced fumble.
No, none of that. Carter was surrounded to address a misstep that cost him a start last week and brushed a thin layer of tarnish on his debut season.
“Hasn’t been that tough for me,’’ Carter said. “I’m a very privileged person, very blessed person. I’m trying to take advantage of this opportunity that I have so it hasn’t been that tough for me.
“I took ownership of it, we’ve moved on from it, we’re focused on this week.’’
Carter, 22, missed a 15-minute walk-through Friday morning when he was in the red light therapy bed in the team’s recovery room. Carter earlier that day missed the announcement that Mike Kafka’s schedule change called for the walk-through and he was unaware he was supposed to be on the field.
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Kafka decided to make a public example of Carter, who would have made his second NFL start last week, with Kayvon Thibodeaux out with a shoulder injury. When the starting defense took the field against the Packers, it was practice squad call-up Tomon Fox at outside linebacker, with Carter on the sideline. After the first series (six snaps), Kafka ended the punishment and Carter played the final 49 snaps on defense.
Carter shot back on social media after reports surfaced that the reason he missed the walk-through was because he was sleeping.
“Well, I’d say the first thing is, Abdul, he’s got my full support,’’ Kafka said. “We’re all here for him, our coaches, the players, the leadership group.
“So, I’d expect him to approach it like he does every day. He practices his tail off, he plays his tail off, he’s continuing to learn and grow as a young player, and I’m proud of him for how he’s handled these things. It hasn’t been an easy couple days, but I’m proud of him, and I think he’s earned a lot of respect in the locker room and will continue to grow and be a great teammate and learn from the things that he’s done.’’
With Thibodeaux not practicing again, it is likely Carter will start Sunday in Detroit.
Carter’s older teammates did not come down hard on him because this transgression was not the continuation of a pattern. Brian Burns called it “a one-off, it hasn’t happened before so treat it as such.’’
Burns, second in the NFL with 13 sacks, called this a “teaching moment’’ for Carter and said his message to the rookie was short and succinct.
“He’s a grown man,’’ Burns said. “I kinda just told him ‘Look, it happened, it got out, it’s over, let’s move on, let’s focus on bigger and better things, which is our opponent this week.’ He works hard, that never slacks, so we didn’t have to talk about it after that.’’
Carter during prepractice warmups was his usually buoyant self, stretching alongside Jaxson Dart and unwilling to walk along with his other teammates, sprinting back to the line with a smile on his face.
Carter, the No. 3 pick in the draft, picked up his first NFL combined sack in the season opener in Washington and remains stuck on that half-sack. He has seen 2.5 legitimate sacks wiped from his résumé because of penalties committed by one of his teammates. The meager sack total does not tell the entire story. He has 35 quarterback pressures, good for 25th among all 117 edge rushers. He is 14th in hurries and 15th in quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus.
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There is no doubt more is expected of such a lofty draft pick and such an unquestioned prospect and talent. He was given a one-on-one opportunity against left tackle Rasheed Walker down the stretch in the 27-20 loss to the Packers, but he failed to pressure the pocket on third-and-10, allowing Jordan Love the time he needed to complete a 33-yard pass to fuel Green Bay’s game-winning touchdown drive.
“I try not to focus on the numbers aspect too much,’’ Carter said. “I feel like I’ve always said I’m more about winning and how the team is doing. If the team is doing good, I’m doing good. If the team is doing bad, then I’m not feeling good.”
His talent and ability created great expectations. There is more pressure on Carter than most rookies.
“I mean, obviously, but I don’t feel like that’s the issue,’’ Carter said. “There’s pressure on everybody, everybody has expectations. Everybody has a job to do, I just got to do mine.”
