The New York Giants got embarrassed on primetime on Monday night against the New England Patriots. Despite heading into the game with confidence after a close loss against the Lions last week, the Giants unraveled and got stomped out by the now 11-2 Patriots by a final score of 33-15.
Stealing the headlines away from the team’s overall performance were those created by the Giants’ pair of first-round rookies. Post-game comments from Abdul Carter and Jaxson Dart raised eyebrows and highlighted the team’s lack of accountability.
Abdul Carter reacts to his benching: “Sh-t happens.”
Carter was benched for the second time in three weeks on Monday night for missing all/part of a team responsibility, per Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post.
When asked about the benching, Carter offered a short, testy initial response to reporters.
“Shit happens,” Carter told the reporters. “I ain’t going to get into detail. Like I said, shit happens… You asked me the same question, I just answered.
The No. 3 overall pick in the draft entered the game with 0.5 sacks registered on the season and a general lack of production despite entering the season with bounds of excitement surrounding him.
After his initially combative interaction with the reporters, Carter did eventually take responsibility for his benching.
“I let my team down today… the first two drives, I was out, they scored 17 points, I gotta be out there. I take responsibility for that, I gotta be better.”
It’s imperative for NFL players to do their job during the week in order to prepare for their weekend games, and this is especially true for rookies.
But Carter’s pattern of missing meetings communicates all the wrong things. And, more than anything, it highlights the Giants’ losing culture and the lack of accountability that they have inside their building.
Carter made noise in the summer by asking Giants legends for their retired numbers, namely No. 56 of Lawrence Taylor and No. 11 of Phil Simms. That rubbed some fans the wrong way as they rightfully want to see the rookie prove himself in the NFL and create his own legacy.
But this rookie season has been far from what anyone had hoped it would be. Carter recorded his first official full sack of the season on Monday night, taking down Patriots QB Drake Maye for a loss of 0 yards.
Jaxson Dart will not change the way he plays despite the Giants’ pleas
Dart has been sensational as a rookie, but he has one obvious flaw exposed in his game: his inability to protect himself. Dart has taken a beaten throughout the first eight starts of his career, but not to the fault of the offensive line. The beating has been largely self-inflicted as Dart runs into contact as a ballcarrier far more often than a franchise quarterback should.
He took a big hit in the Giants’ Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears and subsequently missed two games due to a concussion. Over those two weeks, the narrative coming out of the Giants’ building was that Dart will not be put in a position to take those hits again, and that they will collectively discourage him from putting himself in harm’s way.
It looked like the message simply didn’t get through in Week 13. Dart took a big hit early in the game despite having a clear and obvious opportunity to get out of bounds and protect his body.
After the game, he pushed back against reporters and against the message of protection that the Giants’ coaches and his teammates have been pushing for over the last several weeks.
“This is football. … I’ve played this way my entire life. … We’re not playing soccer out here. … Turn on my high school tape. Turn on my college tape. This is not a shocker to anybody,” Dart told the media.
Rather than holding himself accountable and admitting that he needs to do a better job of protecting himself, Dart just told the media to check the tape. Not exactly what the Giants want to hear out of their presumptuous franchise quarterback.
Up until this point, Dart has been great while speaking to the media, holding himself and his team accountable, and taking responsibility for any mistakes. This was a strange break in character that highlights the boiling point the Giants’ season has reached.
But now, at 2-11, the Giants are heading into their bye week — a long rest that seems much-needed and long overdue.
The Giants will need to do some serious housecleaning during this week to get the team back on the right page and bunker down for the final few weeks of the season.