Giants’ notebook: Daniel Jones as a runner, Andrew Thomas, more

Let’s empty the notebook and see what interesting things happened or were said around the New York Giants this week that we haven’t yet touched on.

Freddie Kitchens on Daniel Jones as a runner

Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones has a neck injury that may or may not cost him the rest of the season. As far as we know, he suffered the injury while running with the ball Week 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles. All of the injuries Jones has suffered as Giants’ quarterback have come with him running the ball.

So, senior offensive assistant and current play-caller Freddie Kitchens was asked this week about protecting Jones and taking the designed quarterback run off the table.

“You definitely think of those things (protecting the player), but also you try to use the players’ strengths to be an advantage,” Kitchens said. “That’s (running ability) what separates Daniel from a lot of quarterbacks. You take that away from him and I think you make him a lesser player. We’re in the business of making guys better players.”

That, of course, is the conundrum. The Giants need Jones to make plays with his legs. But, that exposes him to getting hurt and not being on the field at all.

Andrew Thomas fighting through injuries

Second-year left tackle Andrew Thomas was playing at an exceptionally high level early in the season, before foot and ankle injuries took their toll. Thomas has missed four games, done a stint on IR, and tweaked an ankle last week against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Through it all, Thomas has given up just one sack and 14 pressures in 371 pass-blocking snaps, with a Pro Football Focus pass-blocking efficiency rating of 97.8. It is clear that he is a cornerstone piece for the Giants going forward.

“He’s battling … he’s not in a position out there where he’s going to hurt himself but you can tell … right now it is what it is, he’s battling his tail off,” said offensive line coach Rob Sale. “He does a good job on the edge winning his one-on-one matchup, it’s important to him.”

Keeping Cowboys fans at home

Giants super fan ‘License Plate Guy’ has been trying to get Giants fans who won’t use their tickets to Sunday’s game to give them to him so he can distribute them in an effort to keep Cowboys fans out of MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

Giants defensive back Logan Ryan is on the same page.

“When I heard that, I had a similar idea. I was working behind the scenes to try to see if I could a purchase a block of tickets or do something to give it away for those who are more unfortunate around the holiday season. I don’t want to see Giants fans in there. I don’t appreciate that. Sorry, Cowboys fans. I want to see Giants fans obviously,” Ryan said. “I don’t want to see Cowboys fans in there, so I was trying to find a way to kind of be on that same wave, try to take a situation where you hear that’s happening and try to get those less fortunate in the stands or those who wish to be at the game or those who still want to be at the game, to be at the game. You want to have enthusiastic fans and I understand people spend their hard-earned money, so give it to LPG and he’ll do a good thing with it, so I support him.”

Contact LPG on Twitter @LicensePlateGuy is you want to pass along tickets.

Future vs. present

In an interview on the team’s official website, head coach Joe Judge was asked if at 4-9 this was a time of year when his objective had to be to gain information about players for the future.

“Yeah, absolutely. That’s what has to happen continuously throughout the year anyway. We’ve got a lot of young players. A lot of them who have started playing more throughout the back end of the year. It’s important that they gain experience, and it’s important for us as a team to keep gaining continuity with each other,” Judge said. “As we talked with (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) the other day, Daniel’s been limited with what he’s been able to do with the team. He’s practicing, but he hasn’t been able to play. It’s important that he continues to stay involved and throw with the skill group. These are going to be his teammates next year. These will be the guys he’s throwing to next year. It’s important to keep on building with the chemistry and rapport, and build toward not only what we’re doing with remaining four games, but also in the future as a team.”