Giants lineman Andrew Thomas returns to practice field
Andrew Thomas #78 of the Giants look on during the first half of a preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium on August 18, 2023. Credit: Getty Images
Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas was back on the practice field Wednesday.
He participated on a limited basis. Thomas has missed six consecutive games since suffering a hamstring injury in the season opener on Sept. 10 against Dallas.
“First time I’ve put on a helmet in a while, so that was a good feeling being out there with my teammates again,” Thomas said. “More than I’ve been doing by myself with the [athletic] trainers and stuff like that.”
Thomas and the training staff seem to be taking his progress slowly. That may be because he has already had one setback during his recovery.
“Just continue to stress it and see how it responds,” Thomas said.
The Giants have missed him. Thomas was signed to a five-year, $117.5 million contract on July 26.
He’s played less than one full game since, having injured his hamstring in the season opener.
He later had a setback in his recovery.
“I’m just following the plans of the trainers like I think they just want me to kind of mimic what I would do if I was at practice,” Thomas said. “But they also want to limit and not just cut me loose because there is a chance you can make it worse with soft tissue. So, that’s the plan I’m trying to follow.”
Thomas said he wouldn’t “make any predictions” on whether he’d play against the Jets. That seems unlikely.
“It would be great [to get him back],” Daboll said. “He’s a really good left tackle.
Daboll puts end to rumors
After Saquon Barkley’s public plea last week to not be traded before the NFL trade deadline, which is on Halloween, Daboll put his mind at ease.
"Someone told me that there were some rumors out there,” Daboll said. “So, I walked up to him at walkthrough and said, ‘Yeah, that's not happening, let's go to walkthrough.’ That’s it."
Blue notes
Rookie center John Michael Schmitz returned to practice. He missed the last three games with a shoulder injury. Daboll said the next step for him is to see how he fares at practice … Defensive lineman Leonard Williams did not practice Wednesday. Daboll called it a “vet day,” which means he is not injured. Williams and RB Gary Brightwell were the only players to not practice.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
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