Giant tackle Thomas has ankle surgery
Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas had surgery on his left ankle and expects to be running again by March, a source told the Daily News.
Thomas, 21, the Giants’ No. 4 overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft, posted a photo on Instagram Wednesday of his left ankle in a cast at the foot of a hospital bed.
The source said Thomas initially injured his ankle in training camp but played through the ailment his entire rookie season.
Thomas played in all 16 of the Giants’ games, starting 15. He played 918 of a possible 1,013 offensive snaps. The only game he didn’t start was due to showing up late to a Saturday meeting in Week 6.
His 91% snap count was third on the offense behind only center Nick Gates (100%) and right guard Kevin Zeitler (99%).
It was not common knowledge that Thomas was playing through a significant injury.
Thomas struggled in his first pro year, particularly compared to the other three tackles selected at the top of last year’s draft: Browns LT Jedrick Wills Jr. (No. 10 pick), Jets LT Mekhi Becton (No. 11) and Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs (No. 13).
But it’s noteworthy that Thomas was playing through this ailment.
The Giants also fired offensive line coach Marc Colombo midway through the season, bringing in Dave DeGuglielmo to add some different techniques and approaches to the rookie’s learning curve midstream.
Thomas encouragingly finished with one of his best games of the year in a Week 17 win over the Cowboys — a game he put emphasis on after a tough first meeting with Dallas in Week 5.
“We lost to the Cowboys the first time, I didn’t have a great game the first time we played them, so I had a chip on my shoulder, wanted to go in and have a good game,” Thomas said on Jan. 5.
DeGuglielmo called Thomas a “good student of the game” and said “he’s got talent and he’s playing a premier position in this league.”
“It always takes time for a rookie, any rookie, to elevate his game to what the others’ would be. And he’ll get there. I promise you, this guy one way or another, he’ll get there,” DeGuglielmo said.
Thomas said his emphasis this offseason would be to hone his technique.
“At left tackle you have to have very good technique,” Thomas said. “And the biggest thing for me is making it muscle memory, the things I’ve learned over the year — to make them natural so I don’t have to think about them.”