Giants Camp Notebook: Carter's Breakout, Johnson's Drops and Harbaugh's New Patch System

New York Giants outside linebacker Abdul Carter is making his teammate, Brian Burns, look like a soothsayer.

Burns predicted Carter will have a breakout year this season, and so far through two days of training camp practices, the former Penn State star is showing signs of becoming just that.

What’s even more impressive is that Carter has done the bulk of his havoc-wreaking against none other than left tackle Andrew Thomas, the Giants’ best offensive lineman.

“He has had two good practices,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “He is doing everything well right now. He was in the backfield quite a bit.”

The old cliché that “iron sharpens iron” might be overdone. Still, in this case, it’s very much applicable as not very many edge rushers have successfully gotten past Thomas, be it in practice or in games.

While Thomas admitted that he hates losing a one-on-one matchup, he offered kudos to his young teammate for showing growth and maturity.

“For sure, he's stringing his moves together better,” Thomas said of Carter. “He's using his power more, and you can tell he just has a better understanding of different types of blocks, different types of attacks, recognizing play schemes.

What Harbaugh likes concerning the relationship between Carter and Thomas is that they look out for each other when they review the film.

“They talk about the plays afterward on tape. They might talk a little bit at each other during practice, but afterward they're talking about the play itself and sharing ideas,” Harbaugh said. “A guy like AT will give him a lot of pointers.”

Carter is clearly taking the pointers to heart. While there is no disputing Carter's talent, Harbaugh said the missing ingredient that will help the young defender take his game to the next level is consistency.

“Being a complete player on the edge. We'll move him around, too. That includes even dropping him into coverage sometimes—all those things,” Harbaugh said.

“Play the run, rush the passer, all the movements, stunts, things like that. Cover for guys on movements. All those things that he's determined to do, I've heard him say many times, to be a complete player.”

Here are a few more takeaways from the Giants’ second day of training camp.

Rough Start for Theo Johnson

New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tight end Theo Johnson has picked up where he left off last year, and not in a good way.

Johnson has had two dropped passes in two days, not something that anyone wants to see from a guy who is projected to have a sizable role on offense.

Drops, of course, were a problem for Johnson last year and the year before that, for that matter. Last year, Johnson finished with seven drops, per PFF, tying him for eighth in the league for most dropped passes.

Since coming into the league in 2024, Johnson has 12 dropped balls, tying him for tenth over that span. And of his 12 career drops, seven have come on third down.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what is at fault for the drops, but one thing that was evident on Johnson’s film from last year was his anticipation of when the passes are set to arrive.

Johnson, at times, has looked ill-prepared to catch balls, at times even startled by how quickly they arrive before he’s ready to haul it in, also failing to get his hands up for the pass.

Whatever the cause for the drops, it’s something Johnson better figure out and remove from his game if he wants to be more than just a blocker in this offense.

The Good Sport

New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With the rise of Abdul Carter on defense, that has meant fellow outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux has seen most of his practice reps so far with the second team defense.

To his credit, Thibodeaux, who is in a contract year, has handled the situation with professionalism and maturity, according to Harbaugh.

“I don't think he's worried about it. He knows he's going to play a bunch. These guys know,” the head coach said.

“We have three starters at outside linebacker. Those are all starting football players. So, slice it how you want. Do a depth chart any way you want. Those guys are all going to play a ton of football.”

Thibodeaux has had an active camp so far, taking advantage of his opportunities. He not only has been able to get into the backfield, but he also had a pick-six on a ball thrown by quarterback Jameis Winston.

“I like to see a lot of that. That’s what you want to see. He's a pretty athletic guy. He's aware. He does have good hands,” Harbaugh said of Thibodeaux’s burst on the pick-six.

“The ability to rush the passer and also the awareness to bat balls down is massive. Batted balls are a big stat in defensive football in terms of getting off the field. So, it's something we work on. We do not coach our guys against batting balls down in any drill we do. We want to practice it.”

Chat with Skatt

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Harbaugh has made light, at least publicly, of Cam Skattebo’s penchant for performing backflips.

While he doesn’t want to take away anyone’s enthusiasm, the coach admitted that he’s had conversations with the second-year player about using better judgment when it comes to taking better care of himself when he’s away from the team.

“It's something that we talk about,” Harbaugh said. “So, those things, that, other things have come up every day with Skatt or anybody else.

“Skatt and I have had, I don't know, five, six really good conversations since he got back. That might have been talked about in there with some other stuff.”

Skattebo doesn’t intentionally seek to defy the wishes of the team. Still, it does seem that at times, his youthful enthusiasm gets the better of him, which leads to not only the risk of hurting himself, but also questionable optics.

“I think it's just part of the ongoing process, just communication, being on the same page, trying to be the best we can be in everything we do,” Harbaugh said.

“The big picture message is you want to take care of yourself. You want to take care of your team. Do everything you can do to be healthy, be back, be right, be good.”

Patchwork

New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Harbaugh has brought with him from Baltimore a system of patches, which are awarded to players and sewn onto their practice jerseys for various accomplishments made throughout the year.

The program, Harbaugh said, “is kind of an honoring of the military award medal type things.” Currently, there are two patches that some players are sporting, one for those who met a certain percentage of the voluntary offseason workouts (a muscle patch) and a sword patch for those players who have been to the postseason as a Giant.

Harbaugh said more patches are coming once the games begin, and while he didn’t go into specifics, some potential ideas might include Pro Bowl berths and Player of the Week nods.

“Different kinds of game awards will show up on there,” Harbaugh said.

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