Brian Daboll tried in his own way to get Abdul Carter on the right path.
Before the Giants fired Daboll last month, the former head coach fined Carter — who “had issues all year” — multiple times for either being late or missing team obligations, according to Sports Illustrated.
While that happened in the shadows, interim head coach Mike Kafka has taken a different approach to disciplining the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Kafka benched Carter for the first series of the Giants’ loss to the Packers for missing a walkthrough while he was in a red-light therapy bed.
The 22-year-old was then benched for the entire first quarter during Monday’s loss to the Patriots in Foxborough for a violation of team rules pertaining to missing a team responsibility.
noti.group’s Ryan Dunleavy reported that general manager Joe Schoen has been very involved in trying to instill discipline regarding Carter, despite Kafka claiming the benchings were his decision.
“I’m going to support Kafka with whatever decision he makes in terms of player discipline,” Schoen said Tuesday.
Schoen downplayed Carter’s issues, citing his age.
“These kids are thrust into the spotlight of New York City. It’s not always going to be pretty. People make mistakes,” Schoen said. “Part of our job is to develop them as football players, but also as people, and we’ll continue to do that with everybody in the building.”
Dexter Lawrence said after Monday’s game that Carter needs to “grow up,” a sentiment echoed by Giants great and radio analyst Carl Banks.
“I take it,” Carter said Tuesday of Lawrence’s comments. “The guys who say that are guys I look up to, guys I respect. If they say something like that, I’ve got to look at myself first and say ‘What am I doing? How can I get better?’ And prove to them that I can earn their respect, grow up and be where I’m supposed to be.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
