Andrew Thomas excited to be working with Carmen Bricillo

Every season in the NFL is important, but 2024 could be a particularly consequential year for the New York Giants.

Where they were trying to live up to heightened expectations a year ago, they’re now trying to put a miserable 2023 season behind them. One of the biggest reasons — both figuratively and literally — for the Giants’ nightmare season a year ago was the loss of starting left tackle Andrew Thomas. Thomas is one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL, but they lost him to a stubbornly lingering hamstring injury suffered in Week 1 last year.

But now Thomas is back, and he’s feeling pretty darn good.

“I’m excited to be back, I love football, it’s the best time of the year,” Thomas said.

“I’m feeling great. Obviously, I had the hamstring last year, but I feel really well. Doing a lot of rehab stuff, a lot of Nordics and stuff like that, just to build that strength up, but I feel pretty good. I won the competition this year for the most body fat loss and stuff like that, building muscles, so I’ve been doing a good job, I feel great.”

(Note from Chris: “Nordics” likely refers to Nordic hamstring curls, which are both brutal and an excellent hamstring exercise.)

Giants fans should certainly be happy to hear that Thomas is feeling great and has been working on both pre and rehab. He’s also coming into the season with high expectations for the offensive line.

“I would say the first thing is just be dominant in the run game,” he said. “I think that opens the offense up so well when you can consistently run the ball for four or five yards, and then in the pass game, just protect DJ (quarterback Daniel Jones). Last year we had, I think it was the most sacks ever, so our job this year is to protect DJ, give him an opportunity, because we have skill guys so give him time, he can make plays.”

The Giants added quite a few new faces to their offensive line room this year, signing Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor (who was injured earlier on Wednesday), Aaron Stinnie, and several others. The Giants also added a new offensive line coach in Carmen Bricillo.

“I would say he’s [Bricillo] very detailed,” Thomas said. “He’s been in the system for a while, he was in New England, that’s where Dabs (head coach Brian Daboll) was, where he developed his offensive system. He does a great job, especially for the young guys because we have a lot of nuances going into the offense. He does a good with the NASCAR term, explaining exactly what it means, what’s your assignment, and I think that’s good for the young guys.”

2024 will be Thomas’ fifth season in the NFL, but he’s already on his fourth offensive line coach. That gives him a bit of a unique take on Bricillo and working with a new position coach.

“I think it’s give and take on both ways,” he said. “Carm has his non-negotiables, but he understands that I’ve played in this league for a while, been in this system. As he’s learning that I’ve been playing in it for a few years and they make adjustments to it with the new staff or the new additions to the staff, but we work hand-in-hand just to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

What are some of Bricillo’s “non-negotiables?

“I would say the footwork for some of the double-teams that we have,” Thomas said. “It’s just a little bit different, just what he wants from a technical standpoint. As far as my hand placement, how much ground you’re gaining on your first step would be a non-negotiable, I’d say.”

Thomas also noted that the presence of Eluemunor has been a benefit on and off the field.

“He was with Carm last year, so he kind of knows what makes him tick,” Thomas said “Then he’s just a veteran presence. He’s played in the league for a long time. Physically he’s dominating. He’s a really strong guy and I think that’ll definitely helps us in the run game as well.”

The Giants have to hope that Eluemunor won’t be off the field for long, and Thomas hopes to have his teammate back soon.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, we’ll see once we get in there but hopefully he’s okay,” Thomas said.

The Giants had hoped to have continuity on their rebuilt offensive line, with Eluemunor playing left guard and Evan Neal at right tackle. Instead, Neal started camp on the PUP list and Eluemunor suffered an injury in the first practice.

“You always prefer to have everybody out there because you definitely need continuity,” Thomas said. “But the reality of this business is guys go down, and we have to be prepared, we saw that last year. Hopefully it’s not that bad, but guys deal with injuries during the year, and the next guy has to be ready to step up and protect and run block well.”

Throughout his press conference, it’s clear that Thomas has fully stepped into the role of a leader.

“I remember being a rookie. I remember COVID, just the struggles and everything,” Thomas said. “But it’s made me who I am today, and I’m taking the leadership role on and trying to do the best I can to bring guys along with me.”