To the naked eye, New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas is well over the hump created by last season’s Lisfranc injury and is playing at the top of his game.
But as far as Thomas, whose 84.8 overall grade is thefifth best among tackles in the league, is concerned, his play simply hasn’t been good enough.
“Personally, I'm not at the level that I want to be at, so I'm striving every day while I do film, trying to figure out what I can do more on the practice field just to get to the elite level,” he said Tuesday.
Thomas’s quest to be even better than his career-best 98.2 pass blocking efficiency rating is admirable. The sixth-year left tackle has allowed just one sack in 10 games played as part of the 11 pressures total surrendered, which puts him right on pace with some of his best pre-injury seasons.
He understands that on any given play, an offensive lineman can look like a champion only to look like a chump on the next play if he’s beaten.
And Thomas, who has missed a large chunk of playing time over the past few seasons due to injuries, said he hates the losing that the Giants have experienced, so it only stands to reason that he wants to look like a champion every time he is on the field.
“It's just the nature of the position,” he said of his sky-high personal standards. “It's not just one play where you make a splash play, and you're a top player. You have to play, you know, 60, 70 snaps, being consistent every down.”
Perhaps it’s an exercise in futility, as even those offensive linemen in the Pro Football Hall of Fame can lay claim to having played a perfect game week in and week out.
But don’t tell that to Thomas, who, despite being the Giants’ best and most consistent offensive lineman, demands better from himself.
“To be one of the best to play, you have to do that over a long period of time,” he said. “Each game, I go through the film. With Detroit, I knew before watching the film that there were some things that I needed to clean up, be better at.”
In the past, Thomas has spoken about his pass sets and hand placement as areas he is constantly seeking to improve to increase consistency.
And if he feels that there is room for improvement in those areas, imagine how much more of a nuisance he’s going to be for opposing defenders looking to get past him on any given play.
“ I expect to play better, and I'm going to play better,” he vowed.
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