Tire Phillips’ wide, irrepressible smile told the story. The veteran offensive lineman, who signed to the team’s practice squad this week, is excited to return to the New York Giants.

“I love the building here, and the guys. Obviously it makes sense to go somewhere where you know the playbook, but it was more than just knowing the playbook because I’m a free agent,” Phillips said when I caught up with him in the locker room on Thursday. “I could have gone anywhere, tried it anywhere, but I knew this place, and this place knew me. I feel like I’ve found a home here, and man, there’s nothing like being a Giant for me.”

Phillips had a rollercoaster 2023 season. After starting five games and playing well for the Giants in 2022, he did not originally make the team. After being cut, he ended up on the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles.

A few weeks later, with injuries devastating the offensive line, the Giants poached Phillips from the Eagles. He started nine games in relief of injured Evan Neal before tearing a quad muscle in Week 17.

How does Phillips view last season?

“A lot of things have happened, but it’s just a good thing to just be a good locker room guy, just be a great person, and just be a great teammate, and not burn any bridges in realizing that this is a business Phillips said. . “It’s not personal, even though this is my livelihood, and you have to do your very best not to make it personal, but it’s not personal. This is a case, and you never know, just like the chances of me coming back now.

“So I could have been salty or something, but what’s that for?”

Phillips, 11 months removed from surgery to repair the torn quad, was only recently cleared to start training for teams. He has done one workout. With the giants. He subsequently joined the team’s practice squad and said he “100 percent” wanted to return to New York.

Despite the grueling work of recovering from the first major injury of his career, Phillips called the past year “amazing.”

“Obviously last year it was great that I got cut, practice squad, you know, started a couple games,” he said. “Obviously it didn’t end the way I wanted it to end, obviously right before the selection, but that’s just part of the process with the National Football League.”

Phillips doesn’t know what his role will be. Eleven months after the operation, he is trying to get stronger and get used to the feeling of his leg.

“It’s a roller coaster,” Phillips said of the recovery process. “It’s very challenging. And to this day, I stay on top of my body. Fortunately, I am a good professional, but to this day I can say that I had an operation there.

“I feel strong now. Only if it’s a muscle you use every day and you can see it’s a change, that’s it. But I feel strong. I want to be stronger and harden it. But you notice that it feels different.”

Phillips said the injury has forced him to change his routine.

“I have to warm up a lot more than I used to. But I take my time. So I’m more likely to be on the field,” he said. ‘I get dressed first because I have to do these different things. I have to do this to inflame the tendon. But I mean, that’s just part of it.

“That doesn’t stop me.”