He was in no mood for small-talk or any pleasantries, and so when Marcus Thomas saw he was receiving a call from his agent last week he cut right to the chase:
“Where am I going?’’ Thomas asked.
No, “Hello.” No, “How are you?” Nothing.
“At that point I was just working out, telling my agent don’t call my phone unless it’s for work,’’ Thomas said Wednesday. “It just came to that point, I had to block everything out. [Missing] the first preseason game, that’s when it really started to hit me, like it basically could be over with for me. So I just kept on going and hopefully something worked out.’’
Something might indeed work out. Thomas, a 26-year old defensive tackle with plenty left in the tank, got a call last week saying he was wanted by the Giants. He signed too late to be eligible to play in the 26-3 preseason victory over the Jets and so tomorrow night against the Bears is a debut of sorts for Thomas, who stared down the barrel of his NFL extinction and didn’t like the view.
“I had a real reality shot, as I seen players that I know are real players just like out of the league all of a sudden,’’ Thomas said, “and I was thinking to myself I might be one of those guys that can still go and nobody picks you up.’’
If he can still go he’ll stick around. Thomas is not your ordinary late training-camp pickup arriving to fill out a roster spot until cut-down day. He has played in 76 NFL games, all for the Broncos, starting 34, including 11 last season when he put up a career-high 43 tackles.
Originally a fourth-round draft pick of the Broncos in 2007 out of Florida, Thomas figured he’d earned a multi-year contract extension. The Broncos figured otherwise and offered a one-year deal. Thomas didn’t accept and no one came calling, making for a sobering summer.
What did he realize? “That basically it could be over for me. I really didn’t understand why I didn’t get any calls until this late,’’ Thomas said. “I know it can be taken from me any day. The NFL is basically a gift. You’re out here on the field and just got to take advantage of every opportunity that’s given to you.’’
A month ago the Giants thought defensive tackle was their deepest position. That was before Shaun Rogers was lost for the season — or so it was believed — with a blood clot in his leg and Marvin Austin was sidelined with a back injury. Rogers may be able to salvage this season and Austin says he’s not far away. But starting defensive tackle Chris Canty remains on the physically unable to perform list following knee surgery and there’s every reason to believe he won’t be ready for the Sept. 5 regular-season opener.
Tom Coughlin called Thomas “kind of a very interesting story.’’ Asked what makes Thomas interesting, Coughlin added “Well, that he was available.’’
Thomas can see Coughlin’s point. “I guess, considering how I was sitting like that and the expectations I did have coming out of this past season, yeah, I’m very interesting,’’ he said.
Teammates said they could tell right away Thomas is not typical of players usually added this late in the summer. “In practice you can definitely tell he has experience and he’s played and he knows,’’ Rocky Bernard said. “He’s looked good so far. Just lining up in different backfield sets, knowing what’s coming, just the way he plays the different blocks you can tell the guy’s been there, done that before.’’
He hasn’t done a darn thing before with the Giants and he admits “I feel like I’m behind the eight-ball, I’m in this situation right now that is really no excuses, I don’t have time to be behind the eight-ball. Got to go out and basically show people I can play ball.’’
As for Friday night’s game, Thomas said “This is like starting over again, like me being a rookie going out there to just basically to prove a point.’’
paul.schwartz@nypost.com