Wednesday was the first day of training camp for the New York Giants and afterward, left tackle Andrew Thomas spoke with the media about how his ankle is feeling, his expectations of being one of the best left tackles in the league, and growing into a leadership role for the offensive line.
The biggest question was going to be around his ankle following his second surgery in as many offseasons in late January.
“Feeling pretty good. I just followed the plan from the trainers in the off-season, and I’m trying to maintain that, working on strengthening and stuff like that,” Thomas said. “It feels pretty good.”
Thomas didn’t worry about his readiness when he was limited in the spring.
“I didn’t have any doubts,” Thomas said. “I was prepared. I had the plan set. I followed it and did everything they asked me to do, and I’m practicing today.
“I think it’s a day-by-day thing. I had surgery obviously, so it’s something that’s going to continue that I’m going to work towards, even when it’s feeling great (I’m) still going to do my rehab and pre-hab and make sure it’s ready for the season.”
Thomas doesn’t like being compared to other players, and he spoke about aiming to become one of the game’s best left tackles.
“Honestly, I’m just in competition with myself,” he said. “There are a lot of things I saw from last year that I need to clean up and things I need to get better at. Once I put that on film, I think that it will speak for itself.”
Thomas dove down deeper into his view on benchmarks.
“There’s not really a benchmark. I’m just approaching every day just trying to win the day. Put today away, watch the film and get ready for tomorrow. That’s the way I go about it,” Thomas said. “Right now, it’s a little different because it’s not full contact, obviously. You can’t really test your anchor as much when you don’t have pads on. But, once we put the pads on, we’ll see what happens.”
Thomas is now in his third season and is the only remaining starter from last season’s sub-par line. He is embracing a leadership role.
“Not necessarily that it’s my offensive line, but this year I’m trying to take more of a leadership role,” he said. “It was little harder in OTAs not being out there. When I’m out there now, just trying to be a little bit more vocal and lead with how I practice.”
If his ankle does not become a chronic issue, Thomas has the chance to establish himself as a true franchise left tackle.
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