After missing several practices due to a “heat-related” issue, New York Giants center Jon Feliciano returned to the field late last week.
The veteran was heavily monitored during his first practice back but has since been set free.
“I feel good. Happy to be back out there,” Feliciano told reporters before describing his ordeal.
“Right after the practice, got in the cold tubs. Went through and got an I.V. And then, I’m kind of a hard stick sometimes. And then, missed me a few times. And then after that, I started profusely sweating. And then, I just started full body cramping. Good times.
Feliciano said he dealt with a similar situation as a freshman at Miami and thanked the Giants’ medical staff for bringing him back slowly.
Now that he is back however, Feliciano has returned his attention to the task at hand. Like many others, he’s determined to end the Giants’ long-standing offensive line issues once and for all.
“We got a lot of work to do. I think we can be — the thing is I think we can be really good. It’s all about getting our reps together and getting our verbiage the same,” Feliciano said. “Early on, it’s just like guys are saying things but they’re saying things from different systems, or in the heat of the moment, we got to get our communication down the best we can.
“Evan (Neal) and (Andrew Thomas), I’ve been around some good tackles in my career and I’ve never seen a rookie in Evan be a vet so early on. That dude is, after every meeting, at night we walk by the weight room and he’s foam rolling or doing something. He’s well beyond his years in that regard of taking care of his body and having AT back out there, in OTAs he wasn’t there, is great. He’s a really good young player and it’s kind of my job to make sure that all they have to worry about is blocking the guy in front of them and not thinking about things.”
In Feliciano’s absence, it was clear the Giants have some depth issues at center. He’ll need to stay on the field in order for the O-line to reach their full potential which, seemingly, has set a higher bar than many of the units from recent years.
