Dec 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants offensive tackle Andrew Thomas (78) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles
(East Rutherford, NJ) – Among the New York Giants many problems last season, one surfaced almost immediately – yet went somewhat under the radar.
Left tackle Andrew Thomas is quite possibly the Giants best offensive player. He suffered a hamstring injury during the season’s disastrous opening week loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, and the season never really got going in any positive direction.
Now, Thomas admits he’s hoping and praying he can stay healthy next year. “That would be a dream come true. (The game) that we play — a lot of things are out of your control, but I am just doing my best to have a positive mindset and do all the rehab and stuff I can to prevent injuries as much as possible,” the former first round pick said.
Thomas explained what he’s doing to try to make the “dream” a reality:
“No surgeries, but definitely putting an emphasis on getting my body back to 100 percent.” Thomas says rest and resetting mentally was part of that process: “(I) took some time off to really recover and just being proactive about doing my rehab. Even if it’s not bothering me, just trying to do stuff to stay on top of it to prevent injuries as much as possible.”
And when next season does get underway, Thomas and his fellow linemates will be under new tutelage. Carmen Bricillo is the new offensive line coach, after serving in the same role previously for the Las Vegas Raiders. Thomas got a chance to meet with Bricillo this week after off season activities got underway at the Giants’ facility near MetLife Stadium.
“The first thing (coach) said in meetings today is he wants tough players. We can figure out the rest. And that’s what you want from a coach,” Thomas explained. “You don’t want to have — or speaking, if I was a coach, I wouldn’t want to have to coach effort. I only want to focus on the nuances of the game and technique and things like that. As long as we bring the effort and toughness, he’s going to do his job to coach us up.”
In addition to bringing in Bricillo as coach, the Giants signed veteran guard Jon Runyan Jr. and veteran OG/OT Jermaine Eleumunor. Thomas thinks both were solid additions.
“The vet presence, you play ball in the NFL, that’s an asset as an offensive lineman because a lot of it is taking reps over and over going against some of the top guys, so I know that helps,” Thomas said. He’s also appreciative of the fact Eleumunor knows coach Bricillo: “Two, I know Jermaine played for Carm last year, so he can help with bridging the gap with the offense and understanding how the coach sees things and all of us getting on the same page.”
Thomas played in just 10 games last year. The Giants allowed 85 sacks. If nothing else, head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen want to see the first number rise, and the second one decrease. That would at least be progress for an offense that more or less saw its offensive line give them no chance at times during the 2023-2024 season.
