Abdul Carter injury update: Agent reveals nature of Penn State star's injury, says he's truly a game-time decision

MIAMI — Penn State All-American defensive end Abdul Carter has a shoulder injury and is ‘truly a game-time decision,’ his NIL representative, star NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus, told the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN Thursday hours before the Nittany Lions battle Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff semifinal here at the Orange Bowl.

“It’s a straightforward situation,” Rosenhaus said. “Abdul Carter is an NIL client of ours. We hopefully will represent him in the upcoming draft, but that that won’t happen. until he’s done playing in college. NIL does not carry into the NFL, so Abdul is still going to have to make that decision, but we would obviously be honored to represent him because I believe he’s going to be one of the first picks in the draft.

“But relative to tonight’s game, if this guy can play, physically, if there’s a chance, he will do it. I’ve been an NFL agent for 36 years. This is absolutely one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever been affiliated with. Just watch this guy play. He plays so hard every snap. If he can go, he’ll go. But he has a legitimate shoulder injury. Franklin came out and said, ‘Hey, it’s a game time decision.’ It really is.”

All eyes now turn to Penn State-Notre Dame pregame warmups

Back on Wednesday at a joint head coaches news conference before kickoff, Lions coach James Franklin said that whether or not the defensive end would be able to play would be determined close to kickoff.

“We anticipate Abdul playing,” Franklin said. “He’s doing everything he possibly can to play. His approach has been awesome. He’s lived in the training room. But, it’ll be a game-time decision. We’ll see. Abdul’s approached this the right way. He wants to play. We are hopeful, and expecting Abdul to play. And, we’ll see how this plays out.”

It means all eyes will be on warmups at Hard Rock Stadium. There is absolutely no doubt that Carter will play if he can. It may come down to pain management, though. Time will tell if he will be in action or not. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

“He’s doing great, his attitude is great, his mentality has been really good,” Franklin said back on Saturday. “We’ll see. I think he’s taking the right approach and mentality. It’s going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s able to get during the week.

“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything that is stopping him from playing. But it’s just going to come down to, is he able to play? And, we’ll see. But his mentality is great. He’s got a big smile on his face. I think he’s excited about this week. But it’s too early to say at this stage.”

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