Andrew Thomas’ NFL career could not have gotten off to a worse start. The fourth overall pick out of Georgia in the 2020 NFL draft was supposed to solve the New York Giants’ left tackle dilemma for the next decade.
Instead, Thomas floundered out of the gate and it took him nearly a half a season to get his sea legs under him. Since then, he’s steadily been improving and is on his way to becoming a top NFL left tackle.
The Giants have dealt with a number of injuries this season, paving the way for seven different linemen to play at least 200 snaps. Andrew Thomas has shown massive improvements in his sophomore season, with just one sack surrendered and a 79.5 PFF pass-blocking grade. But when he is out of the lineup, things get ugly quickly.
With one game remaining in this lost 2021 season, Thomas met with the media to discuss his progress and the state of the team.
“For me, the focus is just trying to be the best player I can be for my team,” Thomas told reporters on Monday. “There are obviously things that I need to clean up as a player before I can look at somebody else and point the finger. I’ve got to be playing at the best possible way I can, so to do that, I’m focused on that.
“I think both seasons I’ve continued to get better as the season went on… We’ve got another opportunity this week to play at a level that I’m proud of, so just trying to work on that every day.”
Thomas said that the team is still committed to fight under Judge and that there are better days ahead.
“I definitely believe that,” he said. “I think we have a lot of talented guys in this locker room. I think we have the ability to play well. We’ve just got to get on the same page and stop beating ourselves. That’s the biggest thing Coach Judge always says is you can’t win until you keep from losing. Until we do that, we’re not going to be as successful as we want to be.”
During the New York Giants’ embarrassing 29-3 loss to the Chicago Bears, the main interest was scoreboard watching.
Not so much the Giants game, but the other games with teams that were tied with the same record — the New York Jets and Houston Texans for example.
The Jets were about 15 seconds away from beating Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which would have allowed the Giants to move up in the draft order. But, in typical fashion, the Jets blew it, so that didn’t happen.
And the Texans got beat by the San Francisco 49ers, so the Giants didn’t get a chance to move up. Instead after their loss to the Bears, they remained as the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, according to Tankathon.
And because the Giants also have the Bears’ pick from the Justin Fields trade from last year’s draft, they also currently have the eighth overall pick.
There is one week left to decide the draft order. The Giants will take on the Washington Football Team at MetLife Stadium this Sunday. Everyone else will be scoreboard watching, as the Jets will take on the Buffalo Bills and the Texans will take on the Tennessee Titans. Plus, the Bears will face the Minnesota Vikings.
There’s a good chance that the Giants may end up with the same picks to end the season and go with them into the 2022 NFL draft.
Former New York Giants All-Pro linebacker and current radio analyst, Carl Banks, is adding some context to the rift between the fans and the franchise as another double-digit loss season comes to a close.
Banks, like most of the media and fanbase, is still trying to digest the 11-minute postgame rant from head coach Joe Joe Judge after the Giants were embarrassed by the Bears, 29-3, in Chicago on Sunday.
Judge’s tire covered many topics but Banks is stressing an area which has been the clause of much of the team’s struggle the past few years – player development.
Lots of righteous anger from #nyg fan base. However, something that should be extracted from the critiques is player development.. 2 drafts: Thomas, Azeez, McKinney, Lemieux (pre injury),Cam Brown (best st player), E Smith (starting to flash), Aaron Robinson,Holmes(when healthy)
Judge continues to assert that the team is making strides and that those strides are not easily apparent to the untrained eye. Banks is agreeing with him that the young talent base is starting to develop and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s difficult to stop and analyze this team past the obvious failures but Banks is saying that there’s some value in doing so. Many Giant fans aren’t into settling for moral victories, however, and a good majority now believe that Judge is expendable.
The New England Patriots were prepared for a big party following Super Bowl XLII. They were going to celebrate their historic perfect season with private performances courtesy of Maroon 5, Snoop Dogg and several others.
While appearing on Monday night’s edition of the ManningCast on ESPN, Snoop Dogg revealed that he bounced on the Patriots following their 17-14 loss to the New York Giants.
Snoop said he was supposed to perform for the Patriots after Super Bowl 42, but since they lost he didn’t wanna perform for them and didn’t show up. “What I look like standing on stage when they just lost the first game of their season?”
“True story: I was supposed to perform for the Patriots that night but when they lost I ended up M.I.A. I went missing in action,” Snoop told Eli and Peyton Manning.
“You should have come to my party, Snoop. That could have been the beginning of our band,” Eli said.
With a laugh, Snoop said he just couldn’t bring himself to perform for a team that suffered such a crushing and emotional defeat.
“I know, Eli,” he said. “I was contracted by Mr. Kraft. And when they didn’t win, I couldn’t show up. I said I don’t wanna perform for them, man. What do I look like standing on stage when they just lost the first game of their season? I’m in the bedroom. I’m sick.”
Eli revealed that the Giants had no post-game party or celebration planned. There was no space rented out, no entertainers… nothing. They just hopped on a plane and headed home.
“We didn’t even have a band booked,” Manning recalled. “No one thought we were gonna win. So we had nothing. We didn’t even have space rented out. We had a plane going back that night just to get out of town I think.”
A few days later the Giants would have their celebration. They were marched down the Canyon of Heroes in New York City and got to experience one of the largest crowds in team history.
Retired NFL safety and current ESPN analyst, Ryan Clark, listening closely to the viral 11-minute rant of New York Giants head coach Joe Judge. His conclusion? Judge is a bold-faced liar.
While appearing on Monday’s edition of First Take, Clark shredded Judge and dismissed several of his claims, including that players repeatedly beg him to stay or return to the Giants.
S/O to @danorlovsky7 and specially to @Realrclark25 coming hard on judge and rightfully so… he’s fooled the @giants and anyone in the building… and he even had me for a while but I’m officially done with judge. pic.twitter.com/U3MHNMlEut
— Breaking Tackles Giants Podcast (@BTGiants) January 3, 2022
“If I am playing for Timmy Toughnuts and he is saying that we’re focusing on Sunday, why in the (heck) would I would in there and talk about March? If I want this coach to think I’m about the now, that’s what I’m not doing,” Clark said.
Clark also discussed his departure from the Pittsburgh Steelers and how he remained friends with head coach Mike Tomlin after the fact. And although the two would text occasionally during the season, Clark said reuniting is not something that ever came up.
“You don’t talk about being back in a place that obviously didn’t work out for you to be in no matter what you did there. So that is also a lie,” Clark said.
Clark closed things out by offering his interpretation of Judge’s overall message, which was ultimately, “don’t judge me by the things you can see, judge me by the thing you can’t see.”
Scathing. Clark, who played for the Giants from 2002-2003, pulled absolutely no punches. He went straight for the heart and hit center mass.
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge unleashed a wild rant following a 29-3 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday — one that was not perceived well by the masses.
During the 11-minute verbal word salad, Judge claimed former players who are making more money elsewhere call him weekly to express their desire to return. He also suggested that several impending free agents repeatedly beg him to return.
If that weren’t enough, Judge seemed to take subtle shots at Pat Shurmur, as well as some of his own coaches (see: Rob Sale). He also made comments about Giants fans, Vegas sportsbooks and nearly being fired by the New England Patriots in 2018.
Asked during a Zoom call on Monday afternoon if he regretted any of it, Judge had one simple answer: “No.”
“I was asked a specific question about what the fans are asking and I responded to it. People ask me a direct question, I give direct answers,” Judge said. “Whoever’s listening is going to get a dose of the truth and I was honestly answering to the question to the fans — that’s what the question was asked for — but, obviously, the response can apply to a number of different areas.”
A number of different areas, indeed.
Later during the call, Judge went on another mini-rant. This time, it didn’t near the 11-minute mark but it was equally self-serving.
“I would (we’re a well-coached team),” Judge said. “There are obviously some things we have to do better and I’m not going to sit here and hide behind anything, I’m not going to sit here and say that we’re perfect in anything. There are a lot of things that I — now am I going to go through a diagnosis or an analysis of our team and every unit and every situation? No, I’m not going to do that and I say that very openly in a lot of ways. I’m not going to go ahead and throw players under the bus or try to isolate coaches and look for a scapegoat. That’s not my style, that’s not what I’m going to do.
“But I’ve seen a lot of improvement from our players in a lot of different ways. Sometimes not all that is magnified, but I look at different things that show up with our team, I know the direction that we’re going. I know other teams as well in this league of how they scout us and what we do when we share information-wise sometimes with common opponents and things that happen. I’m very confident in the way that we’re pushing forward right now. There are things we have to improve on. Obviously, the most important thing in this league is winning, so we’ve got to do a better job putting ourselves in position to finalize and finish out some games with a win.”
And as it relates to the former players who are allegedly reaching out to him and expressing a desire to return? Don’t go digging into names or looking for proof, Judge says. Just trust his word.
“I wouldn’t want to try to identify names and I think that would be pure speculation. It’s a small league, I keep in touch with a lot of players I’ve coached elsewhere because, obviously, there are things that we’re very careful with tampering and we never try to get anything in that mix,” Judge said. “But, everyone supports each other. You have guys who have good games from across the way, you may shoot them a text and say, ‘Hey man, I liked the way you played. A certain technique or a certain play, keep it going.’ Guys will reach back out to you.
“There are a number of players who have been here through the years. I’m not going to go into individuals right now, I’m not going to try to open up that kind of chapter of guessing of what it may be, but I just know that we have a strong culture, as players from other teams that I know reach out to our players currently and have reached out to me as well through different avenues. Nothing that needs to be looked into or anything of that nature, but I know this is a place that players want to play. I know this is a place that players want to play. It’s a place that a lot of players are going to want to play for a long time. I’m going to leave it at that.”
Judge may still be selling it, but most are no longer buying it.
New York Giants quarterback Mike Glennon suffered a wrist injury in Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears and will miss the season finale against Washington at MetLife Stadium.
Head coach Joe Judge revealed the injury during his Monday presser burying the lede a bit.
“I’m really pleased with the way Mike has come to work every day this year. He’s played through a number of things, he got thrown into a different role. I like the way Mike prepares, the way he’s a team player. Obviously, there have been some times this year he’s been up and down,” Judge said.
“We started Jake (Fromm) a week ago over him. I thought he handled that the right way as a professional, put the team first and then he stayed ready and when his number was called and went back in. I’m pleased with what Mike’s done for the team and how hard he works.”
Then Judge finally dropped the hammer.
“It’s a shame, Mike got hurt in the game yesterday. He’s going to have surgery coming up soon and he won’t be available for the game this week. That’s really the one injury of note,” Judge said. “There’s a lot of other bumps and bruises in there. I know Mike wanted to go out there yesterday and compete and do everything he could for the team, and that’s the way his season will end.”
Giant fans won’t miss Glennon too much. He completed just four passes in 11 attempts for 24 yards on Sunday in what was one of the worst performances by a quarterback in recent memory.
Mike Glennon recorded a QBR of 0.0 yesterday.
He did not have enough plays to officially qualify, but if he had, it would have been the worst QBR game in the history of the metric — dating back to 2006.
Previous record was 0.3 by Peyton Manning in Week 10 of 2015 vs. Chiefs.
In Glennon’s absence, the Giants will likely turn to Jake Fromm. However, Judge said that practice squad quarterback Brian Lewerke will get some looks in practice this week.
The New York Giants will play host to the Washington Football Team at MetLife Stadium in Week 18. It is the second and final matchup between the two this season.
Despite the Giants being the home team, Vegas is essentially giving them no chance. Tipico has opened Sunday’s line with the Giants at +6.5 and the over/under set at 38.5.
Per the Tipico Sportsbook App, the Giants have a win probability of just 28%.
The Giants enter Sunday with a record of 4-12 and the winds of change beginning to blow. Things aren’t much different in Washington where the 6-10 team without a true nickname are pondering their future, especially at the quarterback position.
In their last meeting, which came back in Week 2, Washington picked up a 30-29 victory after wide receiver Darius Slayton let a potential game-winning touchdown bounce off his hands. Prior to that, the Giants had won five straight against the WFT.
The last time Washington swept the season series against the Giants came back in 2011. Prior to that, it was back in 1999.
The Giants lead the overall series against Washington, 105–70–4.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
The New York Giants fell to the Chicago Bears, 29-3, in one of their worst performances of the year on Sunday. The game was over after the first play and that set the tone for all four quarters.
There was a lot of bad. A lot of ugly. And there’s no way around that, but there were some positives as well. At least in the mind of those over at Pro Football Focus.
Guard Ben Bredeson led the team with an overall grade of 94.7. He was followed by left tackle Andrew Thomas (79.5), tight end Chris Myarick (67.6) and right tackle Nate Solder (67.4).
Other notable offensive grades include running back Saquon Barkley (66.7), fullback Eli Penny (56.3) and wide receiver Kenny Golladay (53.1).
The lowest-graded Giant on offense was quarterback Mike Glennon (21.4).
On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Jaylon Smith led the way with an overall grade of 78.6. He was followed by linebacker Lorenzo Carter (72.0), defensive lineman Woodrow Hamilton (68.8) and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (68.0).
Other notable defensive grades include safety Logan Ryan (65.5), cornerback James Bradberry (64.9) and linebacker Azeez Ojulari (61.3).
The lowest-graded Giant on defense was linebacker Reggie Ragland (27.0).
Defensive back Steven Parker was the highest-graded Giant on special teams, checking out with an overall grade of 84.9.
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge went off-the-wall on Sunday afternoon, unloading a bizarre 11-minute rant that quickly went viral.
Throughout the emotional diatribe, which seemingly occurred without him taking a breath, Judge continually referenced Giants fans. He again defended their right to boo the team and then took it a step further.
Judge opened the door to becoming a lightning rod. He essentially invited fans to boo him out of MetLife Stadium in Week 17 — something that may actually result in fans keeping their tickets.
Booing Judge seems more appealing than a free medium Pepsi, doesn’t it?
“And the fans have every right to have an opinion. That’s why they’re fans. They have every right,” Judge said. “You buy a ticket, come to the stadium, you have every right to boo me going out of the stadium. That’s the way it is. That’s what we sign up for, right? And it’s New York. It’s supposed to be a tough place to be.
“If we don’t play well, every fan has the right to boo my [expletive] out of the stadium. You got that?”
There’s an old saying that goes, “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.”
Within the emotions of the moment, it’s entirely possible Judge didn’t realize what he was saying. Inviting a rabid and angry fan base to unload on you isn’t going to result in some seismic shift where downtrodden fans suddenly see the err of their ways. Rather, they’re going to do exactly what Judge suggested — loudly, proudly and without prejudice.
If John Mara wants to test the pulse of his fan base and find out exactly where his organization currently stands, he’ll have that opportunity come Sunday. Half of the stadium will be filled with cheering Washington fans and the other half will be filled with furious, jeering Giants fans.
