Franchise left tackle Andrew Thomas said in his first interview since season-ending foot surgery in October that the Giants’ lack of explosive plays is one obvious reason why their offense hasn’t scored the past two seasons.
“I would say it starts up front always,” Thomas said just before Christmas. “I think protection and being able to open up run lanes and for the quarterback. And the biggest thing I would say the past few years is explosive plays.
“I talked to [O-line coach] Carm[en Bricillo] the other day, I think we lead the league in 17-play drives, we have long sustaining drives,” Thomas said. “But in this league it’s hard to do that consistently. We don’t have enough explosive plays. I would say that’s one thing we could improve on.”
The fact that the Giants’ coaches are selling stats about sustained drives to their players as a positive is really something. The players know: big plays put points on the board.
And the Giants offense entered Week 16’s game at Atlanta with the fewest amount of 20-yard completions (26) in the NFL while tied for the fewest amount of 40-yard completions (two). They were middle of the pack with 11 rushes of 20-plus yards and two rushes of 40-plus yards.
So is the Giants’ problem that they’re not calling enough explosive plays or the players aren’t executing them well enough?
“I think it’s a little bit of both,” said Thomas, who wore a boot on his right foot. “When coaches call plays, it’s based off of trust. So if we’re not executing or protecting the right way or if we’re not getting checks the right way, it makes it hard. Then on 1st and 10 you call a deep ball and now you’re second and 10 if you don’t convert. And that’s very hard to overcome.”
“So I think if we continue to build the continuity of the offensive line, and figure out what we’re doing at the quarterback position,” Thomas continued, “because we have injuries and we have trades and all these different things. Once we get on the same page, I think we can do something special.”
Thomas, 25, can only do something special with the Giants if he stays on the field.
The Lisfranc injury to his right foot during an Oct. 13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals ended his season and marked a second straight year marred by major injuries.
He played in only 10 games in 2023 due to an early season hamstring injury that he aggravated by returning too early to practice.
So he will have played in only 16 of a possible 34 games the past two years since signing a five-year, $117.5 million contract extension with the team in July 2023.
And that’s on top of left ankle issues that required two surgeries early in his career before he got an issue properly cleaned up there.
“It’s frustrating,” said Thomas, who said he will be out of the boot by the first week of January. “Obviously I want to be out there and help my team. I’m a big part of this team and when I’m not out there, it hurts. But all I can do is prepare every day and do everything I can to get back and hopefully turn this thing around.”
Thomas said doctors told him “it’s about a five-month recovery” from the time of his mid-October surgery, which means he may be able to do some field work in March once OTAs begin.
Still, Thomas said “I’ve dealt with foot surgeries before” and “the biggest thing is not rushing.” So he’s going to take it at whatever speed has him ready to play games come the fall.
Of course by then, Thomas will be protecting a different quarterback.
While he was out and injured, Daniel Jones got shut down by Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll and the Giants and then requested his release. Now he’s on the Minnesota Vikings.
“It’s the nature of the business. That’s my guy. I love DJ, one of my favorite teammates I’ve had,” Thomas said. “But that’s the nature of the business. Wish the best for him in his future endeavors, and that’s all I got on that.”
As for the Giants’ sorry state and future outlook, Thomas said: “It’s gonna take some time, but I think we’ll get there.”
