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The New York Giants benched left tackle Andrew Thomas early in a Week 6 game against the Washington Football Team, instead giving the start to rookie third-round pick Matt Peart.
After the game, Giants head coach Joe Judge insisted it was a disciplinary decision and not one based on performance.
“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.”
Unfortunately for Thomas, Peart also performed well, earning the team’s highest grade in Week 6.
Now the Giants have a bit of a dilemma. Do they continue to ride it out with their struggling first-round pick or do they give way to their third-round pick, who has excelled in practice and performed well on the field?
Judge isn’t exactly saying.
“I think the biggest emphasis is just it’s important for us to play as many of our guys as possible, especially these young guys who need to gain the experience. They can only really improve by being on the field and working,” Judge told reporters on Monday. “Matt’s a guy that’s shown a lot of improvement in the way he works in practice. We’ve seen it from the team periods, the individual one on one pass rush periods. He’s shown progress in the games and the action he’s seen.
“Has he earned the right to be on the field and contribute? Absolutely. That’s why he’s going to be at the games for us.”
Whether or not Thomas starts on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s clear that Peart will have some sort of rotational role. And given Judge’s faith in right tackle Cam Fleming, that will likely come at the expense of Thomas, who could be at risk of losing his job if he doesn’t play better.
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