NY Giants LT Andrew Thomas Gave Encouraging Update After First Full Game Action

Andrew Thomas came through his first full game action since his season-ending Lisfranc injury a year ago with flying colors. But a bigger test awaits him.

New York Giants offensive tackle Andrew Thomas | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas went through his first full game last week since suffering a Week 6 Lisfranc injury last season. 

And in some much-needed good news for a Giants team that just lost receiver Malik Naber to a season-ending ACL tear, Thomas passed his biggest test yet with flying colors. 

“I'm feeling good,” he told reporters on Friday. “Good week of practice. A lot of snaps on Sunday, but I'm excited to get back on the field again.”

For Thomas, who in the week prior was on a pitch count against the Chiefs, there was never any doubt of his intentions regarding snap counts.

“In my mind, I was going to play the whole game unless something else happened, but my mindset was to play the whole game,” he said.

Thomas admitted to experiencing his normal soreness this past Monday, but said that throughout the Giants’ 21-18 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, he was in a groove and is ready to build on that for the next game, which comes Sunday against New Orleans.

“I was fine, honestly. Being up-tempo, I think that puts stress on everybody up front. You don't get as much break when you're huddling, but I think we did a good job handling it,” he said.  

Thomas’s return resulted in the offensive line having one of its best games of the new season. Per Pro Football Focus, the Giants' offensive line, which in the first three weeks allowed 31 pressures, gave up a season-low six pressures against the Chargers.

“I guess you could say it's the best because we won,” Thomas said. 

“Selfishly, we've got to score more in the red zone. We've got to do a little bit better in the run game and try to protect (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) better.”

The biggest challenge awaits Andrew Thomas

After the Saints game this weekend, in which Thomas is expected to take another full workload, he faces a big test when the Giants host the Philadelphia Eagles four days later.

The Giants have been careful in managing Thomas’s workload during the week since his return. This past week, for example, he went full on Wednesday and Friday, but was limited on Thursday.

While the Giants likely won’t get to hold multiple full practices leading up to the Eagles game, it sounds like they will continue to exercise caution with managing their best offensive lineman’s workload.

“It's definitely something that we've talked about,” Thomas said. “It's pretty fluid because it just depends on how I'm feeling. They’ve got a plan in place. 

“The focus is this game coming up Sunday–try not to look too far ahead, but we're aware it's a short week coming up.” 

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