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Abdul Carter was receiving treatment in the red light therapy bed at the Giants facility Friday morning when his team was on the field, The Post has learned. Missing that 15-minute walk-through was the reason interim head coach Mike Kafka decided to discipline Carter by not starting him in Sunday's 27-20 loss to the Packers.
Initial reports that Carter missed the walk-through because he was sleeping are inaccurate.
Kafka, since taking over for fired Brian Daboll, made some nuanced changes to the practice schedule, and one of those changes was the quick walk-through for Friday morning. Players were alerted of this alteration at a team meeting and Carter evidently did not hear that announcement. So, he thought he had time to use the red light therapy bed in the recovery room. Players use that low-level red light therapy to promote cell function to help with pain relief and reduce inflammation.
Giants pass rusher Abdul Carter (51) lines up before a play against the Packers on Nov. 16, 2025. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The recovery room is not located in the trainers room. It is also not in a highly trafficked area, meaning it is certainly possible no teammate or member of the training staff was around to alert Carter that there was a walk-through at the time he was in the therapy bed. These are factors in how Carter missed the walk-through and not excuses why he missed it.
Abdul Carter speaks to reporters inside the locker room at the Giants practice facility last month. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Kafka could have handled this in-house by hitting Carter with a fine and then inserting him into the starting lineup in place of injured Kayvon Thibodeaux at outside linebacker. Kafka opted to keep Carter off the field for the first series on defense — six plays — and then played Carter in the remaining 49 snaps. After the game, Kafka admitted this was "the coach's decision.'' Asked if he wanted to make an example of Carter, Kafka added, "he played his butt off. He practiced his tail off, played his butt off. I'm really happy about Abdul and excited to watch him continue to grow and continue to play a lot more as a pro.''
It is clear that Kafka wanted to send a message that he will run a tight ship and that no one, not even the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft, is exempt from team rules. There are conflicting accounts from The Post's sources regarding whether Carter has had issues with repeated lateness this season.
Carter on Tuesday told ESPN's Adam Schefter that "my mistake was an honest mistake. I own the fact that it was an honest mistake. I was getting treatment and I told coach Kafka that, too. But to say I was sleeping at that time just wasn't true. And it also wasn't a trend. This was the only time it happened.
"I don't want anonymous sources to say these types of things about me that are untrue. I did make a mistake, and I own up to what I did."
