EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – As the longest tenured player on the Giants' offensive line, Andrew Thomas has grown weary of having his unit get blamed for the team's production and scoring shortcomings.

It was that way before the stellar left tackle arrived as a first-round draft choice in 2020, and it continued in his first four seasons. The criticism intensified last year, when injuries forced the Giants to use 11 different starting combinations, the team allowed an NFL-record 85 sacks and finished 6-11. Thomas, the line's best player, missed seven games with a hamstring injury suffered in the season opener.

"Obviously, you don't want to be the reason why the team is not doing well, why the offense is not performing," Thomas said. "And obviously, we've dealt with adversity, but you can't make excuses. Every team deals with injuries and goes through different things."

What the Giants went through in the offseason was a roster and coaching staff transformation, particularly on the offensive line. The unit has two new coaches in Carmen Bricillo and assistant James Ferentz. When the season begins Sunday in MetLife Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings, it will have three new starters in left guard Jon Runyan, right guard Greg Van Roten and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, who join center John Michael Schmitz and Thomas.

Perhaps just as important, the group has confidence that this will be the year the line is not condemned after the Giants lose but will be credited after helping them win.

"Our mentality this year is to be dominant, be consistent and be the catalyst for the offense, not to be the scapegoat when things go wrong," Thomas said. "We want to be the reason why we're winning games."

"I'm very confident in the group we have, but honestly, we won't know until we get on the field. Anybody can play when they're up 20 and everything's going right. But once we hit adversity, once we hit pressure and there's a sack or a bad play, how do we bounce back from it? I think that's what makes the great lines. That's what we'll try to exemplify."

Because of injuries and Van Roten not signing with the team until July 30, the five starters did not practice together for the first time until last week. But the linemen said they have progressed quickly to establish a cohesive unit.

"Being able to practice as a five the last couple of days has been really cool," Eluemunor said. "It feels like we've been playing next to each other for a long time other than two weeks."

"I think we're ready," Runyan said. "Excited to see what this offensive line can do. I think we have all the talent around us necessary and I think we're really starting to mesh well. We'll be ready and excited to see what we're doing. I know it's going to be positive."

The process of coming together as a group was accelerated by Van Roten and Eluemunor having played together last season with the Las Vegas Raiders.

"They had some familiarity with the offense in Vegas," offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. "So, (they've) getting in and really getting caught up on our terminology. But those guys have been a great addition and they're veteran guys who've played a lot of football and we'll certainly lean on those guys as a unit to play well on Sunday."

The new-look line has received praise from numerous teammates, most notably the one it must keep upright for the Giants to succeed.

"I've got a lot of confidence in that group," quarterback Daniel Jones said. "I think they've played really well throughout training camp. We've got some veterans who (we) brought in, some older guys who I think have done a good job and gotten on the same page. I think Carm has done a really good job working with that group. I feel like we have a good plan this week. I'm excited. I think that group has played well."

The Giants have tried to construct a high-level offensive line for many seasons but have endured several setbacks. At the NFL Annual Meeting in March, Giants president John Mara expressed his dissatisfaction over the line's long-term issues and added: "I expect us to be a hell of a lot better this year."

So do the linemen, who have little interest in dwelling on past shortcomings.

"Yes, I have seen the prior seasons for the offensive line," Eluemunor said. "But one thing that I really try to do is not focus on the past but focus on the present and the future. We can only control the product we put out there on Sunday. None of us can control what happened last year. We can only control what we do now and how we practice and prepare for the game and how we approach it."

"We're here working hard every day to get us to win this division and get in the playoffs," Runyan said "That's the goal, win the Super Bowl. And every day we're coming here with that mindset that we have to earn that."

*The Giants listed no players as out, doubtful or questionable on their final injury report. Linebacker Brian Burns was added to the report as limited in practice with an ankle injury. Quarterback Drew Lock (abdomen), safety Dane Belton (back), linebacker Micah McFadden (groin), and wide receiver Gunner Olszewski (groin) were also limited.