Giants’ Andrew Thomas limited in long-awaited return from foot injury

The Giants finally welcomed back their most indispensible player Sunday night against the Chiefs. 

If only on a limited basis. 

Former All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas was eased back into the lineup in Sunday’s 22-9 loss to the Chiefs, playing for the first time since he suffered a fractured left foot in Week 6 of last season (Oct. 13) against the Bengals. 

Thomas logged about 25 plays in the game, which Giants coach Brian Daboll said afterward was the plan.

Rookie Marcus Mbow played the rest. 

“That was just the game plan,” Thomas said. “See how I respond, but it felt great. I missed football. It was progress. I was definitely rusty. It’s been a while since I had live reps like that, but happy to be back out there. I could have [stayed out there], but that was the plan.” 

Thomas underwent Lisfranc surgery later in October and another procedure in the spring to remove screws from his foot.

He was listed as doubtful for the first two weeks of this season before being upgraded to questionable against the Chiefs after taking a significant amount of reps this week in practice. 

Offseason signing James Hudson III was a disaster as the initial fill-in for Thomas in last week’s overtime loss to the Cowboys, committing four penalties on the opening drive alone.

He was benched after 16 offensive snaps and replaced by Mbow, the team’s fifth-round pick out of Purdue. 

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The Giants had won just three of the 20 games missed by Thomas — the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft out of Georgia — over the past three seasons due to hamstring and foot issues. They were 6-10 with the 330-pounder in the lineup over that span. 

The Giants clearly need to keep Thomas healthy to protect veteran quarterback Russell Wilson or rookie Jaxson Dart, if he replaces him later this season. 

“We were gonna give him 25 plays, so that’s what we gave him,” Daboll said. “My understanding is he’s fine. Now it’s the next step, ramp up and get some more.” 

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Offensive lineman Evan Neal — the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft — was inactive for the third straight game. 

The Giants other inactives were Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (calf), Chauncey Golston (ankle), Darius Muasau (concussion/eye), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (foot), Thomas Fidone II and third quarterback Jamies Winston. 

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Wide receiver Xavier Worthy (shoulder) was among the inactives for the Chiefs.