Abdul Carter gives Giants cause for concern with benchings

FOXBOROUGH — He was supposed to be the answer. He was supposed to be in the running for Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was supposed to inject a “dawg’’ attitude and be a dominating presence on the field.

Abdul Carter, 13 games into his NFL career, is none of this. He has provided more questions than answers and the Giants continue to wait for him to wreak havoc on the field and act like a professional off it.

It is quite something that as the Giants finally hit their bye week — have mercy! — Carter has fewer sacks (1.5) than he does benchings (two). He has twice that we know of failed to follow the rules and adhere to team policies. This is an embarrassing look for Carter, who is only 22 years old and has not been able to make good on the Giants motto of wanting players that are “smart, tough and dependable.’’ It is that last trait that Carter is lacking.

When the Giants lined up on defense for the opening series in Monday night’s desultory 33-15 loss to the Patriots, Carter was not on the field at his outside linebacker spot. He was on the visitors sideline at Gillette Stadium, wearing a winter coat on the 30-degree evening. He stayed there for the entire first series. And he stayed on the side for the second defensive series. Something was up, again.