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tRY IT NOWAbdul Carter wanted to put his 1.000 batting average on the line.
The electric rookie was disappointed Saturday that he got to play just six snaps with the starting Giants defense in his NFL debut. And that’s about all there was to be bummed about after he generated three quarterback pressures on his three pass rushes.
“I had fun,” Carter said after the Giants beat the Bills 34-25 in the preseason opener. “I wish I got to play a little more, but I’m glad we got the win.”
Carter won two matchups on an island against four-time Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins.
Once, Carter beat Dawkins to the inside and forced quarterback Mitch Trubisky to spin into the arms of Roy Robertson-Harris. Another time, Carter cupped Dawkins’ helmet and then dropped low and bent the edge to force Trubisky up in the pocket.
“I treat every opponent the same,” Carter said. “It doesn’t matter who I’m going against. I like to get work and put my best against anybody.”
And, in what might be the scariest rep for opposing offenses to watch, Carter lined up at three-technique defensive tackle and beat right guard O’Cyrus Torrence to the inside with his first step and club move. Torrence could’ve been called for holding as Trubisky threw the ball quickly.
In joint practices Tuesday and Wednesday against the Jets, Carter will resume a Penn State practice rivalry against left tackle Olu Fashanu (2024 first-round pick).
“I hope next week will come a little bit quicker,” head coach Brian Daboll said, “so we can get back out there, going live [tackling] and sacking the quarterback.”
Add CB Dru Phillips (undisclosed) to the injury list along with 15 teammates who did not play against the Bills.
“Dru couldn’t finish,” Daboll said, though he declined to elaborate on the severity.
Daboll, a Buffalo area native and former Bills offensive coordinator, loved that Highmark Stadium was nearly full for the final preseason game in its history before the Bills move across the parking lot in 2026. Not just for nostalgic reasons but for the benefit of Jaxson Dart.
“Practiced with a lot of noise, and great first environment to be in for a rookie quarterback,” Daboll said. “Where some places you have 10,000 to 15,000 fans, here you’ve got a packed house, no surprise, which is a good thing.”
Dart was criticized before the draft for clapping his hands to snap the ball in college, but transitioning to a cadence wasn’t an issue.
“It’s kind of my first time doing a silent cadence in a road game atmosphere,” Dart said. “We did have a few pre-snap penalties — we have to continue to improve on those things — but I was happy overall about it.”
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How will the joint practices work? Daboll and Jets head coach Aaron Glenn — who have known each other for about a decade — had communicated a handful of times by lunchtime Sunday to finalize details.
“I’ll be on the Giants offensive field and he’ll be on the Jets offensive field,” Daboll said. “What we talked about is, ‘You’re the head coach of that field,’ if you will. We want to practice the right way.”