After missing the first two weeks of the season with a knee injury, New York Giants rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux made his NFL debut against the Dallas Cowboys this past Monday night.
Things did not go as planned.
Not only did the Giants lose the game, 23-16, but Thibodeaux recorded just one tackle and one hurry. Otherwise, he had almost no impact at all.
Fan reaction was unjustly negative but for Thibodeaux, the whole experience was humbling.
“I would say that you’re not superman,” Thibodeaux told reporters when asked what he learned. “There are times where you want to be the reason we win, there are times where you want to be the guy and you’ve got to realize that the game isn’t played like that. There are eleven people for a reason, it’s a team sport for a reason. So just making sure that you contribute as much as you can and to the best of your ability given the circumstances.”
For someone who has dominated at every level, being rendered indifferent was a whole new experience for Thibodeaux. It was his “welcome to the NFL” moment.
“I still feel like I can make every play on the field. But it’s more of an understanding of how the game is played,” he said. “You’re not just going against the other players on the field, you’re going against a coordinator, you’re going against a team, you’re going against people who do this and have been doing this for a living. It’s understandable that there are schemes and ways to isolate players or take them out, to do whatever. So, just me understanding that it’s a lot bigger than it was before and it’s a lot more detailed and it’s a lot more time taken within the schemes of offenses and things like that.”
Thibodeaux realizes that adjustments will be necessary and growth will be paramount. The Cowboys did a great job isolating him in the absence of Leonard Williams and the Chicago Bears will try to do the same.
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