The New York Giants had so many injuries to their offensive line in October that they needed to find viable players in free agency in order to field a team. That isn’t an easy thing to do as most viable players are already on the roster of another NFL team.
But the Giants took a chance that former first-round pick Justin Pugh, who had played the last five seasons for the Arizona Cardinals and was rehabbing from an ACL tear suffered last October, still had something left to offer.
So, “straight off the couch” came Pugh, the Giants’ top pick in the 2013 NFL draft. And into the starting lineup he went in hopes of steadying a wobbly offensive line.
Pugh has added some experience and, at times, has filled the role the Giants needed him to fill. That was until last week when the Giants — and Pugh — got steamrolled by the New Orleans Saints defensive front.
Now, there are questions about whether or not Pugh is washed and perhaps should have stayed on the couch. The Giants are on the verge of challenging the NFL’s single-season mark for sacks allowed.
On Wednesday, Pugh spoke to the media about his performance and what he plans on doing to improve going forward.
“There’s probably four plays I want back from the game: the sacks. You can’t give up sacks. It kills drives, kills momentum,” he told reporters. “The first one I got beat, it kind of forced a sack on the play. The next one I got edged on a play, and then they had some twist stuff that we just didn’t pick up. We didn’t do our job. We got better as the game went on, but there are no make-ups. Once you get down in the game like that, and you’re down a couple of scores.
“But this is the perfect time — and I talked about this in my podcast, I go in-depth on it — to show who I am as a man, who I am as a player. You’re going to have bad games. People are all in my comments saying things. Like, I didn’t come here to not help the team. I didn’t do my job on Sunday, but it’s how you fight back from that adversity and that’s what I’m going to do and that’s why I’m here. So, I’m looking forward to playing on Sunday and kind of getting that behind me.”
On Christmas Day, the Giants will face a reeling Philadelphia Eagles team on the road. The Giants have only beaten the Eagles twice in their last 14 meetings. The atmosphere will be loud and raucous and Pugh is preparing for the experience.
“It’s going to be intense. Probably my gym teacher and the people I grew up with are going to be in the stands booing us,” Pugh said. “It’s a great environment. It’s the environment you want to play in in football and we’ve got a job to do, and they have a three-game skid. They’re going to be looking to get right and we just lost. We’re both going to have that bad taste in our mouths. So, two teams looking for a win.”
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