New York Giants OT Andrew Thomas Benched After Being Late for Team Meeting

New York Giants offensive tackle Andrew Thomas's first-quarter benching resulted from what head coach Joe Judge characterized as a violation of team policy.

Thomas, the fourth overall pick in the draft, was replaced at left tackle by third-round pick Matt Peart.

"There was nothing disobedient, disrespectful, or malicious on what he did, but he made a mistake and there are consequences for mistakes," Judge told reporters after the game.

Thomas issued an apology through a team spokesperson, explaining that he was late to ta team meeting Saturday night. The rookie also expressed remorse for his action.

"Coach Judge always talks about actions have consequences, and I take responsibility for my actions and the consequences," Thomas said. "It won’t happen again.”

Thomas entered the game in the second quarter and played the majority of the remaining snaps.

Judge praised Thomas for how he handled the situation in accepting the penalty and in keeping his head in the game, something that quarterback Daniel Jones echoed.

"I thought he did well," Jones said of Thomas's response to the incident. "I think that's something he'll learn from. As teammates, we support him and I thought he did a good job. He's a mature guy; he stepped up and stepped in and played well when he got back out there."

As for Peart, who up until this point had seen some snaps at right tackle, Judge liked what he saw.

"He was ready to go early and right away about both guys fought and played well," Judge said. "I'll look at the tape for the specifics that came up, but that's all that was right there."

Jones also liked what he saw of Peart, saying, "He did a great job for us. Matt is a guy who's come in and improved every day, and is a guy with a great approach to the game and his work, and has a lot of talent too. He played well for us today."

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