“Eh.’’
That was Lorenzo Carter’s reaction to what, after a handful of days, remains the top candidate for the play of Giants training camp. Whereas others dubbed the maneuver “awesome’’ and “incredible’’ the youngster who did the deed was nonchalant about his highlight.
“It was a play,’’ Carter said. “I don’t think it was anything too crazy, honestly.’’
If there are more of these on the horizon, the Giants will have found themselves a playmaker on defense. Carter might be the one player on the entire roster capable of lifting his performance to a more heightened level than anyone else. At 22 years old, he was a promising rookie brimming with potential. At 23, Carter is eager to shed the “potential’’ label and replace it with something else:
Difference-maker.
Consider that the Giants have not had a defender reach 10 sacks in a season since 2014 (Jason Pierre-Paul, 12.5) and in 2018 the entire team managed to get only 30 — tied for 30st in the NFL.
“Neither,’’ said Pat Shurmur, when asked if the defense generated enough pressure or sacks a year ago. “You know, it starts with pressure. There are a lot of times when you can get pressure on a quarterback, disrupt him enough where it affects the throw, without sacking him. You need both.’’
Cue Carter. He had four sacks in his first year out of Georgia. The Giants need him to double that output, or more. Double-digits would go a long way toward lifting the Giants back to pass-rush respectability.
“Yes sir, hopefully, we’ll see,’’ Carter said. “I’m more worried about winning games than getting double-digit sacks. I want double-digit wins.’’
For the Giants to approach anywhere near the vicinity of 10 wins it will be incumbent on the inexperienced and novice players on the roster to make sudden ascensions and immediate impacts. Carter, as a 2018 third-round pick, played in 15 games as a rookie and now moves in as a starting outside linebacker, bulked up by 12 pounds to 256 and no longer the kid learning the ropes.
He got out of the gate in a flash in his second training camp, expertly dissecting what was supposed to be a covert screen pass to Saquon Barkley. A linebacker, even one as long and swift as Carter, is never a desirable matchup when Barkley is running a route. This time, the bigger man won.
Carter easily shed Barkley’s attempt at a block, and as Eli Manning flipped the pass where he thought his running back would be, Carter snatched the ball out of the air for an interception at the line of scrimmage he took to the house for a touchdown.
“That was a heck of a play,” Barkley said. “It was a zero blitz, he was responsible for the running back and I kind of tried to sneak him and dip outside him on the screen. He did a great job of playing it and then made an unbelievable play.’’
Shurmur got in line with the gushing.
“That was a terrific play,’’ Shurmur said. “As a head coach, that’s what you like to see. As an offensive coach, you don’t want those kinds of things to happen. But when a guy makes a great individual effort like that, that was awesome. Hopefully we’ll see more of that.’’
Carter looks the part, 6-foot-5 with long arms and a quick first step. He has an easygoing manner away from the field, quick to smile and less eager to laud his own exploits, even when one of those exploits got the better of Barkley.
“I guess he was trying to fake block me and slip it but I read it,’’ Carter said. “I had to cover him, I caught the ball. That’s it.’’
With that, Carter critiqued one aspect of the play.
“I could have caught it cleaner,’’ he said, before admitting “I’m being picky.’’
Alec Ogletree, a veteran inside linebacker, said he sees Carter making huge strides from Year 1 to Year 2.
“Your rookie year, everything is flying all around you,’’ Ogletree said. “You don’t really know much of what’s going on. You’re just trying to make sure you don’t mess up and not really play. But this year, he understands what [defensive coordinator James Bettcher] is asking for him to do and what we expect from him.’’
If it adds up, Carter will be making more plays like the one he kicked off training camp with this summer.
“I’m really happy for that guy, you can see the work he put in,’’ Barkley said. “I think he is going to have a tremendous impact for us this year.”



