Evan Neal Exercising Patience as He Waits for His Number to Be Called 

New York Giants offensive tackle Evan Neal isn’t used to being a sideline spectator on Sundays in the fall.

But that’s where things currently stand with Neal, who, despite being healthy, has yet to receive a single snap on offense or special teams this season.

Neal, the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft, was supposed to be the bookend at right tackle on the Giants offensive line, but thanks to injuries and inconsistency in his performance, that hasn’t been the case. 

And now that the team has an opening in the starting five due to left tackle Andrew Thomas's season-ending lis franc injury, Neal seems no closer to making his 2024 regular season debut than he was last week.

There are probably numerous reasons for that, but the one that makes the most sense is that Neal, who has worked solely at right tackle since being drafted by the Giants, fell so far behind during the spring and summer while he continued his rehab from season-ending ankle surgery that the coaches decided to roll with third-year man Joshua Ezeudu, who was available for every rep in the spring.

Neal, whose technique has been all over the place, also likely had to start from square one with new offensive line coaches Carmen Bricillo and James Ferentz on cleaning up some of the issues affecting his technique in the past, a process that he’s likely still trying to get caught up on.

But all this doesn’t make it any easier for Neal, facing this kind of adversity for the first time in his career after a relatively successful college campaign at Alabama.

“I'm just taking it one day at a time. Just getting better,” Neal said on Wednesday in front of his locker, still in his practice uniform. “Focusing, honing in on my routine and my process. Taking the coaching and just going out there and giving 100% on the field every day.”

Some have wondered why Neal, who played 1,071 snaps at left tackle in college during the 2021 season, his final one at Alabama, doesn’t appear to be a potential solution to fill in for Thomas for the rest of the year. 

Besides being behind in his on-field work–Neal did, however, participate in all the meetings even when he wasn’t cleared to practice–the Giants have had him focus on the right side before adding more to his plate.

“In terms of technique, Carm does see things a little bit different than our last coach (Bobby Johnson) did, but he's allowing me to go out there and play ball,” Neal said. 

“That's another big thing as well. When I started practicing about a month and a half ago, that was my first time playing ball in about a year. So I feel like at that point in time, they were just allowing me to go out there and play, knock the rust off, and then, ‘Okay, how can we coach this better? How can we do that better?’” 

Still, Neal would love to be further along than where he is to at least have a chance at being part of the solution. But he hasn’t created waves in the locker room or with the coaching staff to his credit.

“His attitude has been excellent,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “I think his skill set has improved relative to the technique and fundamentals that James (Ferentz) and Carm (Bricillo) are coaching. 

“He's got the right kind of attitude. He's been a good teammate through this entire process. If his number is called, then he's going to do everything he can do to be ready to play.”   

Daboll added that Neal has vastly improved at right tackle over the last six weeks. 

“The things that we've asked him to do, he's improved playing at the right tackle position since he's been out here these last six weeks of the regular season, with the right mindset,” he said. “He's growing every day.” 

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