Giants' Abdul Carter leaves practice with ankle injury

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants second-year edge rusher Abdul Carter left practice early Monday during the first day of mandatory minicamp due to an ankle injury.

Carter took off his cleats and walked off the field early in the practice. He did not return.

The Giants' initial diagnosis is that the injury is minor.

"Looks like he twisted his ankle to some degree and doesn't look serious," coach John Harbaugh said afterward.

New York is banking on Carter to have a big season after he was the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL draft out of Penn State. He had four sacks in an up-and-down rookie campaign that saw him benched twice for being late or missing meetings.

Carter still finished seventh in the NFL with 72 quarterback pressures, according to NFL NextGen Stats.

Monday was the first day of Giants mandatory minicamp, which will run through Wednesday. They are then off until reporting to training camp in West Virginia in late July.

On the same day that Carter left early because of the ankle injury, running back Cam Skattebo returned from the severe ankle injury he suffered back in October. Skattebo suffered an open tibia fracture, a dislocated ankle and a ruptured deltoid ligament as a rookie.

Harbaugh said back in March that Skattebo could return at some point in the spring. That proved correct Monday when he was running routes and participating in drills at practice less than eight months after the injury.

"I was happy. He was telling me [Monday] ... and then the trainer told me too that he was going to get some plays in groups, some plays in team [periods]," Harbaugh said, before imitating his reaction with a fist pump. "That's where you want him to be. So he's worked super hard, super hard."

Skattebo said recently at a team town hall event that he expected to be ready for Week 1. It now looks as if he will be ready in time for training camp.

If there were any questions about his health, they were gone when he did a backflip after hitting a home run at Brian Burns' celebrity softball game last month. Harbaugh just wanted to avoid a repeat performance at Skattebo's first practice.

"I did mention, 'No backflips out here [Monday],'" Harbaugh said. "He agreed."

Skattebo had 410 rushing yards and seven total touchdowns as a rookie.