Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux provides update on hip injury, training camp availability

New York Giants rookie defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux will be ready when training camp begins on July 19. After suffering a minor hip injury during a spring practice, Thibodeaux spoke with Giants reporter Brooke Cersoslmo on Monday to update his status.

“I’m fully healthy, I’m doing fine,” Thibodeaux said. “I’m back training and I’ll be ready to go for training camp.”

The Giants selected Thibodeaux No. 5 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft and have high expectations for him this upcoming season and going forward. An Oregon product, Thibodeaux emerged as one of the most explosive edge rushers in college football over the past three season. As a freshman in 2019, he burst onto the scene with 35 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and nine sacks. In 2020, he had 42 tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. This past season, Thibodeaux had 49 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and seven sacks, also forcing two fumbles.

Despite those impressive numbers, Kayvon Thibodeaux knows he has a lot to learn from Giants veterans.

“It’s been great learning from the guys,” he told Cersoslmo. “One person can’t do every move, so it’s been understanding what I can do and what’s good for me and my game. Then it’s fine-tuning everything I have. … The biggest challenge (heading into my rookie season) is understanding I can’t control everything. I can only control what I can control. Even though I want to do as much as I can, I can only do the task at hand, my job.”

Thibodeaux is expected to step in and contribute right away for a Giants defense that ranked 22nd in the NFL with 34 sacks this past season. New York also has a new head coach in Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator in Don “Wink” Martindale. The rookie defensive end already has a few goals in mind for next season, but also wants to make sure he doesn’t get ahead of himself.

“I don’t want to think too big. You have to compartmentalize the season,” he said. “If I could average at least one sack a game or contribute five to 10 tackles a game, then I’ll be good. That’s the smartest way to do it. You never want to look at the end. You always want to take it day by day. If you reach for the top, you’ll miss those steps right in front of you. So I know if I take those small steps and get that one sack or five to 10 tackles a game, by the end of the season, I’ll be where I want to be.”

With the news that Thibodeaux is healthy, he can now focus on having a productive train camp in preparation for the 2022 season. He is set to make his NFL debut when the Giants open the season on Sept. 11 against Tennessee.