Giants rookie Abdul Carter is sitting on the bench at the start of the game against the Packers. Did he sleep through a training session and get punished for it?

Abdul Carter refused to let these rumors stand. On Tuesday, the New York Giants’ first-round pick vehemently denied that he had slept through a Big Blue training session last week. Instead, the athlete insisted that he had undergone treatment during the training session.

In week eleven of the NFL season, the Giants suffered a 22-27 defeat against the Green Bay Packers. Carter was supposed to start the game for the injured Kayvon Thibodeaux, but found himself on the bench at the start of the game. Instead, Tomon Fox played the first six defensive snaps before the Packers gave up possession via punt.

After the game, reports appeared in the US media that the rookie had overslept a training session – and was therefore punished.

Carter has now defended himself, explaining that new head coach Mike Kafka had changed the normal training times, which the 22-year-old only noticed when he went for treatment at the usual time – but by then it was too late.

Carter denies rumors about sleeping

The defensive end explained that he had spoken to Kafka about his faux pas via FaceTime on the same day.

“My mistake was an honest mistake, I stand by that. I was undergoing treatment and I told Coach Kafka that. But to say that I was sleeping at that time is simply not true. And it wasn’t a habit either. That was the only time something like that happened,” he told reporters. The new head coach did not want to comment on the matter.