The New York Giants have found themselves with a strange controversy on their hands as of late. Star quarterback Jaxson Dart turned heads when he introduced President Donald Trump at a New York rally last week, and the situation took a turn when one of his teammates, Abdul Carter, called him out in a post on social media.
New head coach John Harbaugh has found himself with quite a volatile situation that needs to be addressed quickly, and that led to a team meeting being held on Wednesday in order to address the situation involving Dart. However, Carter was allegedly not present for this meeting, which quickly caught the attention of fans. And now, a day after the meeting, the reason for Carter’s absence has been revealed.
Why Abdul Carter Missed Recent Giants Meeting
Abdul Carter was not there, but don’t read too much into it: He had previously communicated he had family obligations related to a religious holiday, sources say
This isn’t the first time that Carter has found himself at the center of some drama early in his stint with the Giants. He reportedly missed several meetings as a rookie in 2025, which led to him getting benched early in games late in the year. He also has irritated fans with his handling of his jersey number, as he publicly asked franchise legend Lawrence Taylor if he could wear his No. 56 jersey, even though it’s been retired by the team.
Carter took the internet by storm when he responded to a clip of Dart introducing Trump at his aforementioned rally by claiming that he thought the video was AI. While he eventually ended up deleting this post on X, the damage was done, as Carter clearly was not in favor of his teammate’s decision to support Trump in such a public manner.
Since then, Carter has claimed that he and Dart have cleared the air between them, but it was notable to see that the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s draft wasn’t present at a team meeting where the Giants were discussing how to move past their franchise quarterback’s actions. As it turns out, though, Carter’s absence had been in the cards for quite some time, as he let Harbaugh know well in advance that he wouldn’t be at this meeting due to religious obligations.
“Carter was not in attendance but had previously communicated to Harbaugh that he had family obligations related to the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, sources told The Post,” Ryan Dunleavy reported.
Do the Giants Have an Abdul Carter, Jaxson Dart Problem?
GettyJaxson Dart #6 of the New York Giants carries the ball for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears during the third quarter in the game at Soldier Field.
This is obviously something that the Giants would have rather handled behind the scenes, but Carter’s comments have created some extra work for the team. While his missing this important meeting obviously isn’t ideal, it wasn’t as if he skipped it in order to send a message to Dart and the rest of his teammates.
Disagreements are always going to pop up in the world of sports, but these guys are getting paid millions of dollars to win football games. That doesn’t mean they can’t have opinions on these sorts of matters, but at the end of the day, they need to put aside their differences in an effort to help their team succeed. New York will be hoping that’s what Carter and Dart can do, but time will tell whether that’s possible or not.
Abdul Carter’s Reason for Missing Important Giants Meeting Turns Heads