Life without Andrew Thomas got off to a disastrous start for Daniel Jones and the Giants.
With the All-Pro left tackle out for the season following foot surgery, the Eagles teed off on Jones and backup Drew Lock for eight sacks in a 28-3 rout at MetLife Stadium.
“I started off horrible. I was just overthinking and self-doubting myself,” said Joshua Ezeudu, who replaced Thomas in the lineup. “As the day went on, I had to get out of my own head. I know I’m better, I’ve gotten way better, and have to go out there and play.
“I don’t think there’s any adjustment period. I just know now I have to start off better. We still have the same line besides one person. I know my coaches have faith in me and my teammates have faith in me. And I have faith in myself. I just have to continue to have faith in myself and not overthink stuff.”
Former first-round pick Evan Neal lost his starting job at right tackle this year to free-agent signing Jermaine Eluemunor.
But the Giants declined to move Eluemunor to the left side and either insert Neal or play Ezeudu on the right.
Ezeudu, who started five games last season when injuries arose, conceded that giving up eight sacks — seven of Jones and one of Lock — is “too much.”
While center John Michael Schmitz acknowledged “it’s tough not having AT out there,” he noted that the Giants always have operated under the “next man up” mentality.
“We gotta do a better job of executing on third down and staying on offense. We have to do a better job on our details, locking in our assignment,” Schmitz said. “As a whole, we gotta do better. We gotta do better in the pass game giving him time to make throws and feel comfortable back there. We’ll look at the film and see what we can do better and go from there and correct it.”