After a standout day on special teams, Devin Thomas walked onto the field looking for Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, his former boss.

He didn’t want to find Shanahan to gloat about his special teams trifecta – a great tackle on a kickoff return, a downed punt deep in Redskins territory and a blocked punt.

He wanted to thank him.

“I feel like he allowed me to go somewhere that allowed me to prosper as a player,” Thomas said.

Thomas gave the Redskins reason to rethink their decision to release him on Sunday, his first game as a Giant.

“(I wanted) to do it against them, make them look at the film and say, ‘Man, why did we let him go?’” Thomas said. “That’s something I definitely was looking forward to doing, just coming out here and making plays.”

Mission accomplished.

Thomas finished the day with two tackles – including a hard hit on Terrence Austin on a kickoff return in the first quarter. He downed a Matt Dodge punt at the Washington 5 to start the second quarter. Thomas then deflected a Hunter Smith punt in the fourth quarter on the same play he was held by Kareem Moore.

“I had an opportunity to get in there and make a play,” Thomas said. “I got my hand out there and got a piece of the ball.”

The Redskins selected Thomas in the second round of the 2008 draft but cut him earlier this season. The former Michigan State standout was picked up by the Panthers, who waived him after just six weeks. The Giants then claimed him off of waivers.