New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas will miss the remainder of the 2024 season, per head coach Brian Daboll on October 16. The former second-team All-Pro offensive lineman was placed on the injured reserve on Wednesday of Week 7, making things official.
According to Daboll, the next men up at offensive tackle are Joshua Ezeudu and Evan Neal, although there are varying opinions of how the Giants should best replace Thomas. Retired fan favorite offensive lineman Justin Pugh even weighed in with his thoughts on social media.
“My professional opinion is that the Giants don’t make any other changes to the line up other than [a] new LT starter,” Pugh said on October 16. “Start Josh Ezeudu at LT. Start getting Evan Neal reps there as well, he played LT in college and probably feels better playing LT vs RT anyways. Don’t mess with the gel of the rest of the OL!”
Of course, last year around this time, it was Pugh who was called upon to come “straight off the couch” and into the fray. The veteran blocker even played some left tackle for Big Blue in 2023, which sparked a question from a fan on whether or not Pugh would come out of retirement to help replace Thomas once again.
Unfortunately, the 34-year-old declined the fan’s request, replying that he’s “not playing left tackle again!” — with a laughing emoji.
For the time being, it looks like it’ll be on recent draft picks Ezeudu and Neal to fill the void on the offensive line.
Giants HC Brian Daboll Provides Initial Plan at Left Tackle After Andrew Thomas Injury
Daboll divulged the Giants’ initial plan at left tackle on October 16, although he was not willing to lock in a new starter.
“That’s what development of players is all about,” Daboll said on Wednesday. “We’ve had six weeks here in the regular season where Evan [Neal has] taken the majority of right tackle snaps in case something were to happen to Jermaine [Eluemunor]. Ezeudu has taken left tackle snaps, but then once this happens you have discussions about how you want to approach it.”
“We’ll do a few things here this week, and then ultimately, after Friday’s practice we’ll make our decision on how we’re going to [replace him],” the head coach went on. Daboll did confirm that the staff has “talked about” potentially moving Eluemunor to left tackle before adding that the veteran will remain on the righthand side to start practice this week.
“[Eluemunor] will start out today [on] the right side, we’ll put Ezeudu in here at left [tackle], and then we’ll rotate guys around throughout the week,” he explained. “However it goes, we’ll give the majority of [left tackle] reps to however it sorts out early in practice.”
In other words, Daboll and the Giants appear to agree with Pugh’s “professional opinion” on this matter — but Ezeudu must also prove he’s up to the task.
Giants HC Brian Daboll Says Joshua Ezeudu Has ‘Improved’ Throughout the 2024 Season
The last time Giants fans saw Ezeudu in action at left tackle, it wasn’t pretty. Needless to say, a plan that involves starting him on Daniel Jones’ blindside for the rest of the season is a bit worrisome to most.
Daboll attempted to calm those fears on October 16.
“He’s improved, albeit in practice,” the Giants HC stated, regarding Ezeudu. “In the one-on-ones, in the show team, on the reps that he gets [subbed in] for [Thomas] or for whoever else we put him in for. I think [offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo] has done a good job with his development.”
“He’s not going to be [Thomas],” Daboll acknowledged, “he’s going to be Ezeudu — just like [Neal] is going to be [Neal] — but there’s been improvement in a variety of areas with all those younger players. And that’s what it needs to be, regardless of what position it is.”
At the end of the day, the Giants head coach made no excuses. He concluded that injuries are inevitable in a sport like football, and it’s up to he and his staff to develop and prepare the healthy players on the roster so that they are able to step in whenever adversity does arise.
