Asked for an assessment of the performance of the offensive line in the Giants’ preseason opener, left tackle Andrew Thomas showed little optimism.
“Not bad,” he said, “but we have to clean up a lot of things.”
That affected Sunday practice, where the offensive line was generously quite chaotic. Daniel Jones was regularly under pressure. Center Jon Feliciano didn’t make it through the entire practice session, possibly contributing to the Giants’ myriad injury woes. Left-back Shane Lemieux is still out, as is substitute Josh Ezeudu, meaning Ben Bredeson had to play the position with the first-team. Bredeson later switched to center with Max Garcia playing left guard when Feliciano left.
Jamil Douglas, left, Shane Lemieux, center, and Andrew Thomas conduct a drill at training camp. Corey Sipkin/New York Post
For Bredeson, who played eight games last season and started one of them, the ever-growing list of injuries presents an opportunity, although the Giants would rather not come that way.
“Part of the game on offense is flexibility and our ability to form a unit of five,” Bredeson told The Post after practice. “And we need to be able to plug and play with different people. I just got that, cheered back with everyone and it felt good today.
Bredeson said first-team representatives had no say in his mindset or approach. His goal is the same: make a difference, help the team. This offensive line room, he said, gets along well — they chop off each other’s heads and make everyone better.
For a younger player like Bredeson, entering his third season in the league, that’s particularly important.
“I’m just asking a little bit about different techniques,” he said. “What works for them in games against different types of players. First of all you get some guys in the room who have been in the league for eight years and played a lot of games. So if you can pick the brains of these guys, it works very well.
From left: Shane Lemieux #66, Andrew Thomas #78, Roy Mbaeteka #61 and Ben Bredeson #68. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
That all sounds good in print, but doing it on the field will be a different matter altogether — and one that’s not quite as open to interpretation. With the current uncertainty as to whether Lemieux will play in Week 1 and injuries elsewhere, it’s more than possible the Giants will need to rely on Bredeson early in the season.
“I feel very comfortable,” he said. “I think we have an incredible coaching staff, especially in our O-Line room with Bobby [Johnson] and Tony [Sparano Jr.]. We feel like we all get along really well as a unit with the coaches. It’s just a cohesive group.”
Azeez Ojulari trained on Sunday after being left off the non-football injury list. Kadarius Toney could return later this week but Daboll said that was unlikely.
Daboll declined to give a time frame for Lemieux’s toe injury. His backup Ezeudu is a question for next week’s game against the Bengals.
The Giants did without cornerback Michael Jacquet and offensive lineman Josh Rivas. They also cut Jarrod Wilson’s security.