The question after the Giants' offensive line stayed remarkably healthy for the first five weeks of the season was whether it could be sustained.
The answer is no after Andrew Thomas hurt his foot during Sunday night's game against the Bengals and then underwent successful surgery Wednesday morning to repair a Lisfranc injury, an operation that will end the star left tackle's fifth season in the NFL.
"You can't replace an Andrew Thomas. I feel terrible for him," head coach Brian Daboll told reporters. "He's a leader, he's a captain, he's great in the locker room, he's a very good football player."
Thomas, voted a Second Team All-Pro in 2022, signed a five-year, $117.5 million extension before the 2023 season which included $67 million guaranteed at the signing, the most ever for an offensive lineman in NFL history at the time.
But Thomas has since suffered a pair of freak injuries including a hamstring injury that cost him seven games last year. After he misses the remaining 11 games of this season, Thomas will have played in only 16 of 34 games since the contract extension.
Head coach Brian Daboll said that Josh Ezeudu would move into the starting lineup at left tackle for practice this week. The team will make a final decision on Friday for Sunday's game against the Eagles, with another option being moving Jermaine Eluemunor from right tackle to left tackle and then starting Evan Neal at right tackle.
The starting five had played every snap together for the first six games despite Thomas' mid-game ailment against Cincinnati, but now the Giants will have to navigate the rest of their schedule without arguably their most indispensable player.
Still, the Giants won't resign themselves to a weaker offense without Thomas. Daboll pointed to how wide receiver Darius Slayton had a 122-yard game in Seattle in Week 5 with rookie Malik Nabers sideline as one example of the team's next-man-up mentality.
"I'd say you don't make any excuses. Injuries happen and that's why everybody's on this team," Daboll said. "They're all working to improve. They're not here just to hold the space. They're working to improve. So when they get their opportunity, they go out there and they do as good of a job as they can do and be themselves and trust their fundamentals, their techniques."
The Giants also had more bad news on the injury front Wednesday as Daboll said nose tackle Dexter Lawrence (hip) -- the team's best defensive player -- and outside linebacker Brian Burns (groin) wouldn't practice Wednesday with "day-to-day" injuries.
The Giants will also be without kicker Graham Gano (hamstring) for at least one more week. The 37-year-old is eligible to come off injured reserve this week but isn't ready yet, so Greg Joseph will handle the kicking duties against the Eagles. Joseph is 8-for-11 on field goals in four games
"He's making progress," Daboll said of Gano. "Not there yet."
On a more positive note, there is optimism that Nabers will return against the Eagles after missing the last two games while in the concussion protocol. He practiced with the team in a red non-contact jersey Wednesday, which represented progress because he strictly worked off to the side with trainers last week.
"He passed some of the steps that he needed to do," Daboll said. "He's better, which is a good thing. So, we'll see. We'll go through today. I'm optimistic, but I'm not going to push anything. That type of injury you want to be smart with. But he is doing much better."