Andrew Thomas, Brian Burns banged up during Giants’ loss

Brian Burns sounded almost as angry as Andrew Thomas was dejected.

The Giants’ best defensive and best offensive players, respectively, were injured Sunday during a 16-13 loss to the Vikings.

As Burns (cleared a concussion evaluation) returned to rush the passer, Thomas (hamstring) did not.

Burns was engaged with a blocker when Will Fries came in from the side and knocked him over with a hit that might have flirted with the dirty line and sent him into the concussion protocol.

The irony is that Burns and Fries could’ve been teammates because the Giants pursued the North Jersey native Fries during free agency last offseason.

Brian Burns reacts during the Giants’ Dec. 21 loss to the Vikings. AP

“No. 76 cleaned me up,” Burns said, later mumbling “Fries” under his breath. “Just upset that I didn’t get a chance to get back at you. I wasn’t [happy]. It wasn’t dirty. It was a football play.”

Thomas left the game with a hamstring injury in the first half and is headed Monday for testing.

“Sore,” Thomas said. “We’ll see what the diagnosis is. I talked to the training staff at halftime, and they said it was the best thing to do.”

Andrew Thomas is pictured during the Giants’ Dec. 1 game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post

Thomas missed seven games with a hamstring injury to his opposite leg in 2023 and missed the final 10 last season plus the first two this season as he recovered from surgery to repair a Lisfranc injury to his foot.

“I think it’s different,” Thomas said, “but haven’t got the MRI yet.”

Thomas was replaced by rookie Marcus Mbow at left tackle.

LG Aaron Stinnie made his first start of the season as the replacement for Jon Runyan Jr., who missed the game because his wife was expected to give birth Sunday.

It was a missed opportunity for often-injured draft bust Evan Neal to make his season debut and NFL debut at guard.

Mbow has only practiced at guard, so he wasn’t really a consideration to jump over Stinnie.

The Giants played the fourth quarter with three backup offensive linemen because center Austin Schlottmann replaced John Michael Schmitz Jr., who left the locker room with a splint on his right hand.

CB Cor’Dale Flott suffered a knee injury, which forced draft bust Deonte Banks into the game.

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The Vikings, like most Giants opponents, immediately ran the ball at Banks to expose his poor tackling.

Banks also allowed a 21-yard completion to Justin Jefferson on third-and-17 during the game-winning drive.

In his NFL debut, K Ben Sauls became the fifth different player to attempt a field goal or PAT for the Giants this season.

He made both of his field goals, but his opening kickoff landed out of bounds.

A few minutes later, Sauls was left on the sideline when the Giants could’ve tied the score on a 28-yard field goal.

Jaxson Dart took a sack on fourth-and-5.

“I knew I wanted to stay aggressive in the early part of the game,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said. “We had an opportunity, and I was talking with our analytics guys and game-management guys, and it’s right there. I wanted to put it in our offense’s hands. You never know how the game is going to declare and be at the end of it.”

The Giants were left to rue those three lost points.