New York Giants right tackle Evan Neal struggled as a rookie but he’s not interested in making any excuses. Despite being hampered by a knee injury that undoubtedly impacted him in a number of areas, Neal insists his poor play wasn’t a result of that.
“It wasn’t a factor. A lot of guys get dinged up, banged up. I wasn’t the only one out there dealing with stuff,” Neal told reporters on Wednesday.
Neal was allowed to heal this offseason and that afforded him the opportunity to train with retired All-Pro tackle Willie Anderson. The two initially linked up via Instagram and then got together to work on Neal’s stance.
“Working with Willie was cool,” Neal said. “Just gaining a lot of his knowledge, him being a Pro Bowl player, we were playing around with my stance, seeing what’s comfortable, seeing what’s not comfortable. The stance that I can be functional out of and explode out of and stuff like that.
“Whether I’m widening out my base or narrowing it or just seeing what’s comfortable. You’ve got to be able to be functional in your stance and be able to move efficiently out of your stance. That’s what we were trying to find, find a place that I’m quick out of, that’s comfortable for me, a stance that I can get in and repeat rep after rep after rep.”
Although Neal felt comfortable with his stance a season ago, he acknowledges that adaptation is required in the NFL. There’s constant development and evolution, so he’s aiming to find what works best.
“I’m open to change. In this league, you’ve got to be able to adapt. I’ve done a lot of things that work for me in the past. I’ve done things that haven’t worked so well. This is just another one of those things, me trying something new, just seeing how I can get better,” he said.
“Like with anything you want to refine it to the point where you get better results out of it. It wasn’t the fact that I was uncomfortable. I was analyzing my game and I was like, okay, maybe if I tweak this part of my stance maybe I’ll be able to get to my pass set quicker or maybe I’ll be more balanced whenever I take my pass sets. Really, it’s just a refining type of thing.”
Neal is one of the most important players on the Giants headed into the 2023 season. The team needs him to make Andrew Thomas-like strides and he’s certainly working towards that.
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