Late entry for Giants rookie
Thomas misses start after meeting gaffe
Joe Judge benched rookie first-round pick Andrew Thomas for the start of Sunday’s game because the left tackle was late to a team meeting on Saturday night, the Giants said in a statement.
Rookie third-round pick Matt Peart started in Thomas’ place and played the first two drives before Thomas entered to start the third offensive series. Peart also replaced Thomas for parts of the second half.
Judge said his decision to bench Thomas was “not performance-based at all.”
Thomas, the No. 4 overall pick out of Georgia, was not available to the media after the game. The Giants sent out a text message with a statement they said came from Thomas, specifying “I was late for our meeting (Saturday) night.”
“Coach Judge always talks about (how) actions have consequences, and I take responsibility for my actions and the consequences. It won’t happen again,” the statement read.
Judge made clear “Andrew violated a team policy,” but “there was nothing disobedient, disrespectful or malicious in what he did.” And the coach said “I thought Andrew did a really good job of accepting it, staying ready, and performing when he got in the game.”
“Matt, we always preach be ready to play, his number was called, and he was ready to go early and right away,” Judge added. “I thought both guys fought and played well when they were in the game.”
Washington’s defense finished with only one sack and five QB hits. Rookie Chase Young’s pressure on Daniel Jones to force his red zone interception happened on a play when tight end Kaden Smith was tasked with coming across the formation to block Young one-on-one, so it didn’t appear to be on the offensive line.
Thomas had struggled through his first five games, but Judge clearly stated Sunday’s decision had nothing to do with his performance.
SCARY SCENE
Wide receiver C.J. Board was immobilized, carted off the field and taken to a local hospital with a concussion and a sprained neck after a scary scene early in Sunday’s third quarter.
When Darius Slayton then briefly left the game with a re-injured foot, it left the Giants with just two healthy receivers: Golden Tate and rookie Austin Mack (one catch, one yard) who made his NFL debut.
Judge was optimistic Board’s diagnosis is trending in a positive direction, at least.
“I’m gonna wait on the official diagnosis,” the coach said. “The one thing I can say good news wise (is that) even on the field he was moving, he was conscious, he was responding, he had feeling, he had movement in all his extremities. They obviously had some precautions with what they were doing (on the field). I’ll let the doctors diagnose exactly what it is. But the feedback I was just given right now was pretty positive overall, so that was a relief.”
Sterling Shepard may return for the Giants’ Thursday night game in Philadelphia from a turf toe injury that has sidelined him the past four games. But he has to be activated from injured reserve and probably needs to get through at least one practice before he plays. So far Shepard has only done light running on his own.
The Giants have only one brief Tuesday practice between Sunday’s win and Thursday’s game.
BLACK AND BIG BLUE
A laundry list of Giants players gutted out injuries on Sunday, which could lead to a long injury report for Thursday’s game.
Inside linebacker Blake Martinez came in and out of the game several times, seemingly with an injury to his chest. Martinez and Dexter Lawrence also both were tested for concussions and returned. Lawrence already was playing through a knee injury.
Strong safety Jabrill Peppers returned after reaggravating his right ankle sprain. Slayton stayed in despite reinjuring the foot that limited him in practice all week. Kyler Fackrell played the whole game and made the difference-making strip sack despite being limited all week with an ankle injury.
“There’s a lot of guys playing through physical ailments,” Judge said. “The reality is there’s not a single player in the league right now that’s 100%. Everybody’s banged up, everybody’s fatigued, everybody’s tired. We’re gonna try and see if we can get those guys’ bodies back as fast as we can and flip it over for Philly on Thursday night. But we had a lot of tough guys out there gritting it through and doing everything they could for the team.”
Rookie corner Darnay Holmes left the game for good in the second quarter with a neck injury. So Madre Harper saw his first meaningful defensive snaps as a Giant as an extra corner in his third game with the team.
HASKINS INACTIVE
Washington second-year QB Dwayne Haskins, the 2019 first-round pick, was inactive for Sunday’s game. Haskins was benched in Week 5 and demoted below the practice squad QB, reportedly for maturity and work ethic issues, and he missed most of this week’s practices with what the team called an “illness.” He returned to practice late in the week, but did not dress. Veteran Alex Smith backed up starter Kyle Allen … The Giants’ inactives were free safety Adrian Colbert (shoulder), edge Lorenzo Carter (Achilles, out for season), DL RJ McIntosh, OT Jackson Barton, LB TJ Brunson and TE Eric Tomlinson … LB David Mayo made his season debut after missing the first five games on injured reserve after surgery for a torn meniscus.