The New York Giants benched first-round left tackle Andrew Thomas in Week 6 against the Washington Football Team, citing disciplinary reasons.
Thomas allegedly showed up late to a Saturday night meeting, which he acknowledged in a statement through the team.
“I was late for our meeting last night,” Thomas said in a statement. “Coach Judge always talks about actions have consequences, and I take responsibility for my actions and the consequences. It won’t happen again.”
Head coach Joe Judge confirmed Thomas’ statement while meeting with the media on Sunday.
“I want to make clear, this wasn’t performance based at all,” Judge told reporters. “I’m not going to go too far into detail, but what I will say is Andrew violated team policy. There was nothing disobedient, disrespectful or malicious in what he did, but he made a mistake and there’s consequences for mistakes. We’ve got to make sure that we go ahead and we handle that the right way. That being said, I thought that Andrew did a really good job of accepting it, staying ready, performing when he got in the game.”
Thomas’ benching paved the way for third-round offensive tackle Matt Peart to start, and he later received additional offensive snaps.
In his brief film review of the game, NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger focused solely on Peart, who he feels has tremendous “upside.”
.@Giants @MatthewPeart65 made his first start for #BigBlue and played pretty well in his 27 snaps. There are a few things that if he can improve upon looks like he has upside. Anxious to watch his next game to see the improvement. Nothing too big for him. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/723s9e7UKh
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 19, 2020
As Baldinger alludes, most of Peart’s issues are basic. He doesn’t stay square long enough and occasionally dips his head, but those are fundamental issues that can be fixed with good coaching.
As it pertains to Peart’s talent, there’s no denying it. He’s built like a quality offensive lineman, has long arms and is as strong as an ox. Once he gets more experience and cleans things up, watch out.
Peart at left tackle and Thomas at right tackle? Maybe, baby…
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