The New York Giants No. 3 overall selection of the 2025 NFL Draft did not disappoint in his preseason debut. Former Penn State defenseman Abdul Carter was on the field for only a handful of snaps against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Aug. 9, but he took every opportunity to prove himself as a rookie.
"I felt like I had a pretty good pregame, warm-up, and stuff. So I tried to come out already warmed up," Carter said postgame. "Like during the game, I feel like I had a good little rotation."
The defenseman only saw the field six times, including three pass-rush snaps. While not an ideal scenario in order to find a rhythm for the game, Carter didn't let his minimal playing time go to waste and said he felt prepared for the speed and physicality waiting for him in his preseason debut.
On each pass rush, he applied pressure and even got past offensive tackle Dion Dawkins more than once to get into the backfield and threaten Buffalo quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
"I thought both of those guys did a good job," Giants general manager Joe Schoen said about Carter and Jaxson Dart. "I saw [Carter], he looks like he got a couple pressures. I'll have to go back and see the film afterwards . . . I'm happy with where both of those guys are."
Abdul Carter gets into the backfield on his first snap as a Giant.
— Joel Haas (@Joel_Haas1) August 9, 2025
And so it begins.
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It was almost illusive to watch Carter make beating the four-time Pro Bowl tackle look easy. He kept his pokerface on to media after the game, though, and said that his best game will be left out on the field regardless of who he's matched up against. Every opponent is the same, and if his small wins on defense contribute to a Giants win by the end of the fourth quarter, that's all that matters. Even without recording a snap, his own performance on the stat sheet isn't a focus as long as he's getting game reps in ahead of the regular season.
"That's something I look forward to. I hope next week can come a little bit quicker so we can get back out there," Carter said. "Going live, sacking the quarterback, so we can get into that."
The Giants defeated the Bills 34-25 on Saturday and New York will take on the Jets Aug. 16 for its second preseason game of the season. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. and it can be watched on NFL Network and NFL+.
"We got the win, that's all I'm worried about," Carter said. ". . . After we're done celebrating this win, go back, get back to New York, and just focus on our next opponent."