Giants icon blasts Abdul Carter after latest benching in loss to Patriots

New York Giants icon Carl Banks was working the Giants’ radio broadcast of the team’s 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday night. New York rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter was benched for the game’s first quarter after he reportedly missed all or part “of a team responsibility.” 

Interim head coach Mike Kafka has now benched Carter twice in three weeks for alleged tardiness. Banks suggested Monday night that veteran Giants players send Carter a message about what is expected of him through the end of the season. 

Carl Banks tells Abdul Carter to “grow up”

“It’s time for the kid to grow up,” Banks said about Carter, per Matt Clapp of Awful Announcing. “I don’t advocate teammates fighting with each other. But it seems like, if we’re just finding this out now, this has got to have been a pattern going on all year. And that’s losing football. That’s a losing locker room. You know, when you have these types of things, and you don’t care enough to be engaged, and you have to be disciplined twice, how many other times has this happened and they just kind of overlooked it?”

Banks was referring to how Kafka first benched Carter for the opening series of the Giants’ Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 16 after the 22-year-old missed a walkthrough. While Carter later said he “was getting treatment” at the time, a report from The Athletic’s Dan Duggan shared that former Giants head coach Brian Daboll previously tolerated Carter “being late to meetings.” 

The Giants fired Daboll on Nov. 10, one day after their record fell to 2-8. 

Will Giants keep Abdul Carter accountable as second-year pro?

Early Tuesday morning, a report noted that some evaluators said earlier this year that Carter “would need a strong organizational structure around him to reinforce professional habits.” Following Monday’s defeat, he vowed he would “be better” for a Giants team that made him the third overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

“It’s disappointing, because I expect more from the young man,” Banks added about Carter. “And I, again, have been a big defender, saying, ‘Oh, he’ll be okay. He’ll be okay.’ But, here’s the thing — you can’t care more about this stuff than the kids themselves. So, he’s got to grow up, shape up, and hopefully…next year, he gets his head on straight, and gets focused, and has someone that can keep him accountable from day one.” 

When on the field, Carter recorded just 1.5 sacks over the first 13 regular-season games of his career. 

Some believe the Giants could part ways with general manager Joe Schoen at any point between now and January. It remains to be seen if a new regime will want to put up with Carter next season.