Andrew Thomas is a standup guy all the way but the big man could not bring himself to get to his feet.

There he sat as Sunday night moved into early Monday morning, facing his locker, head down, fielding questions but offering no real answers.

Thomas could not explain how the Giants could lose a season opener 40-0, as he contemplated heading to an MRI tube later that day to get a determination how severe of a hamstring injury he suffered while chasing and failing to prevent the return of a blocked field goal that resulted in a Dallas touchdown, the first rumble of what teammate Darren Waller called “the avalanche that you see on the scoreboard.’’

Whoa. There is too much negative stuff to unpack there.

When insult and injury mix it is indeed a toxic combination.

The only way the football atrocity that was the Giants’ season opener could get worse is if they lost a key player while getting routed.

Thomas, after hurting his hamstring in the first quarter, gutted his way through the remainder of the game, playing 53 of the 70 offensive snaps before he took a seat. He did not sound optimistic about the way he felt after the game and it is likely he woke up quite sore the morning after. It was quite a downer for a player operating in his first game since signing a massive five-year, $117.5 contract extension.

Thomas not being able to make it for the Week 2 game against the Cardinals in Arizona would be a deadly loss, given the state of disrepair that is the offensive line.

And, lest we forget, the Giants are in the midst of playing three games in 12 days, with a Thursday night meeting with the 49ers in Santa Clara in Week 3. Such a short turnaround will not be advantageous for the time Thomas might need to recover from this injury.

It sure got late early for the Giants, didn’t it?

Here is a look at some of the carnage that, appropriately, took place with the newly crowned US Open champion, Coco Gauff, in the building the same evening the Giants were blasted 40-Love:

Risking the starting quarterback in a game already lost seemed living on the edge.

“I was gonna let him see it through there just until that last series,’’ Daboll said.

Again: Why?

“Try to get something positive going there,’’ Daboll said. “We didn’t have much going, just wanted to try to get, you know, a positive drive and try to punch the ball into the end zone, but that didn’t happen.’’

No, it didn’t didn’t happen. It did not come close to happening.  

We get it. Try to give Jones and the offense something – anything – to build upon going into the next week and the next game. Try to avoid the ignominy of getting shut out. The offensive line could not protect Jones, though, and it would have been prudent to make sure he exited in one piece.

“Obviously as a competitor, being a man in the arena, going out there putting everything on the line, all the hard work it takes to be able to go out there and perform, and to have a result like that obviously it sucks, but what can you do?’’ Neal said. “What can you do other than come out and work harder, go back in the office, learn from it and work harder to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’

Neal’s footwork is too slow and his body bend is not where it needs to be.  This continues to be alarming with a player taken with the No. 7 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.