Paulson Adebo’s Saints career ended sooner than expected.
Not just because the Saints didn’t re-sign their 2021 third-round pick when he reached free agency in March, but also because his final season was cut short by a broken femur.
Adebo is returning Sunday with the Giants to face the Saints on the Superdome turf where his career took a turn.
“Just appreciation for the first four years of my career and the role that [the Saints] played in that first chapter, and then trying to continue this new chapter,” Adebo said. “The NFL is a business.”
Adebo said the Saints and other teams had “an opportunity” to sign him before he inked a three-year, $54 million contract with the Giants.
The Giants had more conviction than other teams that Adebo would heal quickly from his season-ending injury and have been proven right so far.
He hasn’t so much as missed a practice while playing all 294 defensive snaps in four games.
“I’m kind of past that,” Adebo said of his injury. “Definitely a stadium I played in a lot of times, so it will be unique to be out there. I’ll have family there, too, so it will be a fun time.”
The next challenge could be to shadow Chris Olave around the field or try to use his speed to stick with Rashid Shaheed, whose speed could cause headaches for Cor’Dale Flott, Deonte Banks and Dru Phillips as Spencer Rattler throws deep.
“I went up against those guys every day in practice for a couple years — great receivers,” Adebo said. “Rattler, great arm talent. Can make all throws. Journey of a second-year quarterback still trying to fine-tune some things but definitely has a lot of potential.”
DT Dexter Lawrence II (illness), S Tyler Nubin (groin), RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. (shoulder) and RG Greg Van Roten (rest) did not practice.
S Dane Belton (shoulder), DT D.J. Davidson (foot), DL Chauncey Golston (ankle), S Jevon Holland (neck), C John Michael Schmitz Jr. (ankle) and DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches (foot) were limited.
QB Jaxson Dart (hamstring), RB Cam Skattebo (knee) and QB Russell Wilson (ankle) were full participants.
No mention of LT Andrew Thomas in the injury report after he played his first full game (76 snaps).
Penn State alum Abdul Carter was decked out in Oregon gear as he addressed reporters in the locker room.
It was his penalty doled out by Giants teammate Kayvon Thibodeaux — an Oregon alum — after the Ducks beat the Nittany Lions.
“That’s all good. We’re going to get it back at some point,” Carter said.
At some point this year? Like in the Big Ten Championship Game or College Football Playoff?
“You never know,” Carter said. “We’ll see them in a playoff, so we’ll see what happens.
The noise in the Superdome is about as challenging as it gets for a rookie in his first career road start.
The Giants had crowd noise “blasting as loud as we can” during practice.
“Calls, snap, there’s a million different things that come into play,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “You could hardly hear during the walk-through, and that’s what we do throughout the week.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
