As the New York Giants' defense took the field for Monday Night Football against the New England Patriots, fans noticed one particular starter was missing in action.
It was rookie pass rusher Abdul Carter -- again. Giants fans likely began to roll their eyes and think, "not again."
"A coach's decision but he was not hurt. We expect to see him," ESPN's sideline reporter Laura Rutledge told the booth immediately following that initial drive. Speaking of the booth, it didn't take long for Troy Aikman to call out the obvious.
"Which is interesting, Laura, because as we know, he was benched for a series a couple of weeks ago after missing a walkthrough. And he was on the bench to start the night tonight," Aikman responded.
Update: Carter was reportedly benched for missing all/part of a team responsibility, per Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post.
Giants fans will have to keep bearing the growing pains of Abdul Carter's rookie season
Well, yes, Troy. That is interesting. It is a bit more than interesting, though. It is quite concerning, in fact.
Most Giants fans wouldn't remember a lack of effort or concentration during the pre-draft process, but mostly because we didn't hear much about it from the Giants' end. That very well could speak more about the Giants as an organization (as it should).
Still, this team will continue enduring the consequences, so to speak, of Carter being young and still having a lot of growing left to do. Like we already knew, Carter was benched not even a month ago after missing a walkthrough.
He might have tried to clarify and explain himself, by telling everyone he was "in recovery," but the initial reports had us believing Carter was sleeping. Whatever the truth might have actually been in that situation, he was right by saying it was on him.
Now, we're just a few weeks removed from the incident and he was benched once again. What could he have done this time?
Whatever it was, Carter's actions directly impacted his defense as the Giants allowed a New England field goal on that first drive. Sure, it was only a field goal. But, the defense allowed points without him on the drive, and the consequences were something he could have prevented in the beginning.
And here's the thing: It wasn't just the first drive. When the Patriots went down the field for a touchdown on their next possession, Carter was still on the bench.
The rookie clearly has some growing up to do.