New York Post

Giants rookie LT Thomas has ankle surgery

- By RYAN DUNLEAVY rdunleavy@nypost.com

The encore to the best game of Andrew Thomas’ rookie season was ankle surgery.

The Giants’ left tackle posted a photo Wednesday on Instagram of his left foot wrapped in a cast, along with the caption “everything went well. Thanks for the prayers.”

Sources told The Post that Thomas had ankle surgery to correct an issue that was known when he entered the league and had nagged him since training camp. He waited to get it fixed without fear of doing further damage.

Thomas is expected to recover by March, according to a source, and will be able to participat­e in the NFL offseason program if on-field activities are included again, depending on the COVID-19 situation.

The first-round pick out of Georgia played 96.3 percent of the Giants’ offensive snaps and didn’t miss any due to injury. He was rotated out of the game at times.

“Obviously, it didn’t start out the way I want it to, but being a rookie left tackle in the NFL is a tough deal,” Thomas said earlier this month. “It just took time. I’m running my own race, not paying attention to what’s going on in the other lanes, just focusing on what Andrew has to do to get better.”

Learning to navigate the pain throughout the season could explain some of the footwork issues that caused Thomas to struggle early in the schedule. He allowed 57 quarterbac­k pressures, but did not allow a pressure in three of the last six games and earned his highest single-game score from Pro Football Focus in the season finale against the Cowboys.

“His learning process has been one he’s really attacked,” quarterbac­k Daniel Jones said earlier this month. “He’s done a good job with that, and his approach every day has been the same. I’ve been impressed with him. I think he’s going to be a great player.”

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