Abdul Carter is setting a lofty goal for himself.
“I want to be Defensive Player of the Year,” Carter said. And he absolutely thinks he can do so right away.
Carter goes into his second NFL season with the New York Giants having come a long way from the edge rusher selected with the third pick in the 2025 draft and who asked Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor to wear his No. 56 — and was denied. He has visibly evolved as a player and a person since struggling through the first two months as a rookie and getting disciplined twice for off-field team violations.
After finishing strong last year with 3 1/2 sacks in his final five games, Carter has been a disruptive force early in training camp and could soon be an every-down linebacker and a difference-maker in all situations.
“I know what I’m capable of,” Carter said last week at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. “I know if I put the work in and believe in myself, trusting myself, trust in my teammates, trust in my coaches, I can be whoever I want to be.”
Carter has shown flashes of brilliance in practice, working against established starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and often beating him to the backfield. Thomas notices Carter being better than this time last year.
“He’s using his power more, and you can tell he just has a better understanding for different types of blocks, different types of attacks, recognizing play schemes,” Thomas said, acknowledging Carter has exhibited growth all around. “He wants to be a good player, so when you have that drive, you just have to get it going in the right direction. You just learn as you go. He’s a young kid. He’s going to learn. He’s going to get even better.”
The learning happened in a very public way. Carter had just half a sack in his first 10 pro games, got benched from the first defensive series of his 11th by interim coach Mike Kafka, who then sat him again for the first quarter two weeks later.
Carter, who is 22 with his 23rd birthday coming up on Oct. 3, said at the time he owned his mistakes. Asked at this camp if he could tell his younger self anything, he brushed that off as not the way he thinks about life.
“I feel like everything happened the way it was supposed to,” Carter said. “I learned from it, moved on from it, so I’m ready to go into year two.”
What are the Giants getting from Carter in year two? Brian Burns, who's coming off a career season in which he ranked second in the league with 16 1/2 sacks behind record-setter Myles Garrett, sees big things.
“He ended the year strong,” Burns said. “I expect him to break out, pick up where he left off.”
Carter intends to do that by leaning on the video, playbook study and practice habits he has developed. That approach fits in with what Burns and others have observed about Carter showing more maturity.
It doesn't hurt that Carter also has a new coach in John Harbaugh, who brings Super Bowl-winning gravitas to the job and hired Dennard Wilson to be defensive coordinator. It'll be up to Wilson to figure out the best ways to use Carter to unlock his potential, though that's something Harbaugh already has a good idea of.
“Just a consistency level: down, after down, after down, all downs, all situations,” Harbaugh said. “Play the run, rush the passer, all the movements, stunts -- things like that — (and) cover for guys on movements. All those things that he’s determined to do, I’ve heard him say it many times, to be a complete player.”
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New York Giants' Abdul Carter practices during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
New York Giants' Abdul Carter practices during an NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been checking in more frequently with the team during training camp, but it remains unclear when he will return to the coaching staff following the shooting of his wife at their Virginia home.
Bieniemy's son, Elijah Bieniemy, has been arrested in connection with the shooting of his mother, Mia. He has been charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling, but court appearances for the 27-year-old Bieniemy have been delayed pending a mental health evaluation.
Mia Bieniemy's condition has been improving, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said this week.
"It was great to hear from him just from a personal standpoint. You were just so devastated for him,” Chiefs pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier, who has assumed many of Bieniemy's duties, said Tuesday. “He has been reaching out more and more lately for the football stuff and that's brought a sense of normalcy to our team, hearing from him and his thoughts on football.”
Bieniemy returned to the Chiefs earlier this year, after leaving to serve as offensive coordinator with the Commanders and spending a season apiece with UCLA and the Chicago Bears. He replaced Matt Nagy, who is now the offensive coordinator with the Giants.
The reason the Chiefs were eager to get Bieniemy back in the building was twofold: He has an intimate knowledge of the Kansas City offense, having helped the franchise reach three Super Bowls and win two, and he carries along a certain no-nonsense attitude that the Chiefs desperately needed after slipping to a disappointing 6-11 finish last season.
“We'll hold it down and when (Bieniemy) gets back, we'll be ready to have that intensity and energy. That's what I love most about him,” said Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III, the reigning Super Bowl MVP and one of their big free-agent acquisitions.
“You can't take a play off,” Walker said, “because he's going to say something to you about it.”
Bleymaier, who is widely considered a rising star in the coaching profession, has a much quieter personality. But he joked Tuesday that he had lost his voice during practice, so perhaps some of Bieniemy's vocal traits have worn off on him.
“The guys want to be held accountable. They want someone to remind them what to do and not let anything slide,” Bleymaier said. “That's the role of the coordinator and that's the role of whoever is put in that position, to constantly uphold that standard.”
In other news Tuesday, the Chiefs continued with their second padded practice of camp at Missouri Western, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes once again worked out in full after undergoing surgery less than eight months ago to repair torn knee ligaments.
Mahomes has been wearing a brace on the left knee, but otherwise it's been hard to notice anything different about him.
“You hate to say that anything Patrick does surprises you,” Bleymaier said, “because he's always pushing the limits of what he can do with the football, and the recovery timetable from just the injuries that he's had. But physically, I haven't seen anything with the knee out on the field that would show any setbacks. Just nonexistent, any sort of knee issues, which has been incredible.”
Notes: Undrafted rookie RT Kahlil Benson continued to get first-team reps on Tuesday. He's been one of the biggest surprises of camp. ... WRs Cyrus Allen (bruised shin) and Xavier Worthy (sore shoulder) did not practice. DL Ashton Gillotte (hamstring strain) also sat out the workout. ... First-round pick CB Mansoor Delane (shoulder) continued to practice in a yellow no-contact jersey.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce talks with a teammate during NFL football training camp Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A fans watches during the Kansas City Chiefs' NFL football training camp Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Fans arrive for the Kansas City Chiefs' NFL football training camp Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Mansoor Delane runs during NFL football training camp Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in St. Joseph, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
FILE - Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy watches from the sidelines during an NFL football game, Oct. 1, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
