Abdul Carter: “Pass rush is a science” | New York Giants

Abdul Carter: “Pass rush is a science” | New York Giants

What do you think of your first week of NFL training camp? I’ve been enjoying it. Just trying to get better each day. It’s been fun so far. How much changes tomorrow when the pads come on and the intensity raises? I keep my intensity the same. The pass just, you know, we get to be more physical like play some real football now. So, I can’t wait. Do you have a preference whether it be standing up, hand in the dirt, anything like that? I’m talking just bring on the edge. Um, it depends on where I’m coming from. If it’s if it’s pass for us, definitely probably my hand in the dirt, but I like to mix it up, change things around. So, I’m I’m good either way. What’s the best advice and tips have given you this week? That’s a lot. Um, shoot, honestly, I just I’m just quiet. I like to learn from them, watch them, just try to still little things they do in terms of their routine, how they practice, and just how they handle their business. Just try to pick up little pieces one moment at a time. It seems like they’re putting a lot on your plate in terms of not just like on the edge on one side. It’s like you’re all over the field, you’re doing a little offball stuff, too. Uh how are you handling that? And you take that as like almost like a sign of respect that they think you can handle that much. Yeah, it’s definitely a sign of respect. Uh anything my coaches need me to do, I’m going to go out there and do it to the best of my ability. So, whatever they ask me, I’m gonna get in there. I’m going to do it. How much different is that though being on the edge versus, you know, being down as like a three technique? I’ve been I’ve been doing this since my freshman year at college, so I’m pretty much used to it. Do you like the plays where it seemed like more on Friday that you did that kind of gave you the freedom to stand up and you were kind of picking your spots? It was almost like you were stalking the line from play to play. Say it one more time. My bad. Like do you like the freedom when you are standing up and you can kind of look and pick your spots? I mean, we don’t know. You probably have a spot where you need to attack, but it looks like you’re kind of looking for that spot almost like stalking the offensive line in a sense. Yeah, everybody got their job to do. I just try to do my job the just the way I do. I got like my own little style that I that I play like. So, what I’m going to do, I’m I’m going to make sure I do my job first, but just within the play. Yeah. I know Brian didn’t practice today, but even before then, they started to get you, you know, within that first team and get some of those first team reps. What does that what does that feel like to you? And, you know, how much are you sort of waiting for that opportunity there? It could be first team, second team, third team. I’m going to play the same way, treat everybody the same, so it don’t really matter for me. How different was today though going up against your name like for a full drive like that? Yeah, I felt good. I feel like that was like like a real football drive going down the field uh player after play after play. I feel like it really felt good. When you’re in that spot when you let’s say lose a battle, do you know as an edge and as a pass rusher like if I just get one like I win the drive essentially? Yeah, for sure. And it’s also like setting up moves later down the drive. I feel like pass rush is a science. It’s like during playing basketball, dribbling the ball, just set your set your moves up. Uh, setting up your counter. So, I just try to think about it like that. It’s really just a science for me. You like the spin move? For sure. Yeah, I got a lot of moves. So, everybody in the, uh, NFL community is going to see where you went to college, see your versatility, and say, can he be like Michael Parsons? What do you think when you hear that comparison? Yeah, I learned a lot. I learned a lot from Michael. He took me under his wing just starting at Penn State, wearing number 11. that whole stick city tradition, but at the end of the day, I’m my own player. I’m going to be Abdul Carter. Do you have some of that versatility though? That Absolutely. For sure. Can you walk me through that rush in the red zone where you I mean it would have been a sack basically where you did get past Germaine and run. Yeah. Um I just got off the ball just following my track and um I just I just be playing just play football. No big deal to you. No, just just play football. That’s all. Has this been an adjustment for you at all going from college to the NFL? Yeah, I feel like it has. Um, more just like coming in, getting settled down in a new city, uh, finding a home, like things of that nature. But football is football. I feel like until we get to like the season, play real games. We’ll see if it’s how much different it is from college. The early reviews, I’m talking about some of your teammates when we say, you know, what have you seen from Abdul? They they say, you know, the explosiveness and he’s been impressive. And what does that mean to you? What do you think when you hear that? Um, I try not to listen to it too much. I just want to keep working, keep getting better. I feel like I’m just I’m still just getting started. It’s my second year of being on the edge and I feel like just I just keep getting better, keep finding little ways to get better. In what way? Like when you say that you’re making it out, like you’re and I know you are kind of new to the edge. Like what little intricacies are you kind of do you kind of focus on? Like what’s important to you to get better? Uh, it’s a lot. It’s a lot of details that go into it. I know it’s like when you just look at it, it’s just, oh, okay, he’s just rushing off the ed doing moves. But it’s a lot more detail that goes into it rather than just technique, uh, your hand placement, how many steps you take, just things like that. What do you think of Jackson Dart so far? Um, I haven’t got a chance to watch him a lot, but I was talking to him yesterday just asking him like how things going on. He’s enjoying it. He’s going through the process, learning from Russ, learning from Jamus. I just told him just take one day at a time. You don’t got to know everything right now. That’s what I’m doing. just trying to learn from the guys ahead of me and that’s how we going about it. When you when you come in as the number three pick in the draft, there are immediate huge expectations. How are you handling that kind of whatever you would call that? Expectations, pressure. I embrace it. I feel like I perform best under pressure. I don’t I don’t shy away from it. I embrace it. And um yeah. What did you do on your day off yesterday? Just relax. Yeah. Yeah. You go see the cities. Uh Fantastic Four. I seen that. It’s a pretty good movie. Like it? I loved it. I know you like to play chess. So when you’re on the edge, if you can you translate anything you’ve learned from like chess to how you are learning the edge or getting figure figure things out a little bit. Uh for sure just thinking ahead, planning ahead, uh knowing what your opponent doing. That’s probably just similarity there. Is it also not you know not overthink because sometimes in chess you have to be able to move quickly and not overthink it too much? Yeah, sure. You and Kon play chess together at all? I haven’t played Kavon yet. Anybody on the team? Uh I play Trace forward. We like we tied up right now. But uh I I haven’t really got a chance to really sit down and play chess. We we all in the playbook watching film. So, but we gonna get to that. What do you make up the playbook? And um ours is not that complicated. If you ask Jackson, he’ll probably take you through the matrix, but ours is pretty much a little bit more simple, but it’s still just the little details, little techniques that I got to key on. Dave Davo was talking before practice about your instincts, see ball, get ball. Like some guys, he said his line was sometimes you tell guys go 12 yards, turn around, they do exactly that. You’re more as the play develops, see it. Can you talk a little bit about your instincts? Um like where they come from? Have you always felt like very instinctual on the field? Yeah, I just I just thank God for that. Not much I can say.

Outside Linebacker speaks to the media after practice on Sunday during Training Camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Facility. Presented by Ford.

Subscribe to the Giants YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3dcF4jo
Subscribe to our Podcast Channels! ⬇️
🎙 Giants Podcast Network: https://nygnt.co/podcasts

#NYGiants #NFL #Giants

For more Giants action: https://www.giants.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newyorkgiants/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nygiants/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Giants
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/newyorkgiants/
Follow us on TikTok: https://bit.ly/3fhkbFs
Follow us on Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3fo8VaA