Tag: Justin Pugh

From couch to cornerstone: Giants need to keep Justin Pugh around

Justin Pugh went from the couch to a key cornerstone for the New York Giants and they can’t risk leaving him on the practice squad.

The New York Giants almost pulled off an impossible upset of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night and they did it with an offensive line held together by spit, duct tape, and chicken wire.

The Giants lost left tackle Joshua Ezeudu to a toe injury nine plays in and had to reconfigure the lineup once again. They were already operating without starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and starting center John Michael Schmitz.

Ben Bredeson started at center with Mark Glowinski at right guard, Evan Neal at right tackle and Justin Pugh at left guard.

That’s right. No misprint. Justin Pugh.

Pugh, who was recently signed to the Giants practice squad as a free agent, last played for the Giants in Week 8 of the 2017 season before being placed on season-ending IR with a back injury.

After the 2017 season, Pugh signed with the Arizona Cardinals on a five-year, $45 million free-agent deal. He started 56 games over four seasons, mainly at guard but saw some action at right tackle.

In 2022, Pugh suffered a torn ACL in Week 6 and missed the remainder of the season. He became a free agent last March and the Giants reached out to him earlier this month when he was given medical clearance to play.

When Ezeudi went down in the first quarter, the Giants were strapped at tackle. Enter Pugh, who shifted to left tackle, a position he said after the game that he could not remember the last time he played.

“You’d have to look that up,” Pugh told reporters when asked. “Eight years? Maybe my second or third year in the league? ’15-’16? I don’t know.”

Nevertheless, Pugh played fairly well and the Giants now have some solace that their line could be settling down. They allowed just three sacks on the night after a two-week stretch that’s saw them surrender a combined 19 against Seattle and Miami.

Pugh is currently on a practice squad salary and now the Giants have a decision to make. Do they risk sending him back to the practice squad where another team can scoop him up, or do they sign him themselves?

The answer is pretty clear. He is healthy and willing to play anywhere to help the franchise that drafted him in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

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What we learned from Giants’ 14-9 loss to Bills

The New York Giants fell to the Buffalo Bills, 14-9, in Week 6 and here’s some of what we learned from that game.

The New York Giants fell to 1-5 on the season after losing, 14-9, to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Sunday Night Football.

Here are a  few things we learned from the Week 6 game.

Stock up, down after Giants’ 14-9 loss to Bills

Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ Sunday night loss to the Buffalo Bills?

The New York Giants avoided humiliation on Sunday Night Football, battling the Buffalo Bills for four full quarters before being sent home with a 14-9 loss.

The defeat falls squarely on the Giants’ shoulders after failing to score from the 1-yard line in the final seconds of each half. Those mistakes, highlighted by a major mental error courtesy of Tyrod Taylor, were too much to overcome.

There were still quite a few positives but before we look at those, let’s reflect a bit.

Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 6 loss? Let’s take a look.

Giants-Bills Week 6: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants battled valiantly on Sunday night but ultimately fell to the Buffalo Bills, 14-9, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. The loss stings a bit more because Big Blue not only had their chances to win but because they beat themselves and not the other way around.

Led by quarterback Tyrod Taylor, the Giants failed to score at the end of each half, stalling at the 1-yard line both times.

Just before halftime, Taylor inexplicably checked into a run with no timeouts and Saquon Barkley couldn’t find the endzone. The clock then ran dry.

At the end of the fourth quarter, the Giants had an untimed down but Taylor was unable to connect with Darren Waller, sailing the ball high while the tight end was also arguably interfered with.

Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ most recent defeat.

Offensive snaps: 77
Defensive snaps: 61
Special teams snaps: 21

In his first game back off the couch, offensive lineman Justin Pugh took all 77 of the offensive snaps. He started the night at left guard but quickly kicked out to left tackle after Shane Lemieux exited the game with an injury.

Barkley, meanwhile, returned after missing three games with a high-ankle sprain and wasn’t on any sort of a pitch count. He took 60 offensive snaps.

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard was again criminally underused, taking the field for just a single snap in the loss.

Defensively, the Giants ran so short on personnel that linebacker Carter Coughlin managed to sneak in a few snaps.

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Giants’ Justin Pugh had the most relatable Sunday Night Football intro and NFL fans loved it

“Straight off the couch!”

Justin Pugh just endeared himself to millions of football fans with this spectacular one-liner.

After being drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft then leaving in free agency a few years later, Pugh was recently reunited with the team on a practice squad contract. Headed into Sunday night’s game against the Buffalo Bills, Pugh was elevated off the practice squad to take over duties as New York’s left guard for the game.

And Pugh didn’t waste his chance to put himself back on the map in the hearts of Giants fans everywhere. As Pugh and the Giants offense were taking the field, Sunday Night Football played its customary introductions for New York’s starting lineup. When it was Pugh’s turn to be introduced to fans at home, he didn’t miss with this hilarious quip: “Justin Pugh, straight off the couch!”

Talk about as perfect of an intro as you can have. NFL fans agreed, as they chimed in on Twitter to say how much they enjoyed Pugh’s charming Sunday Night Football intro.

Giants place Azeez Ojulari on IR, elevate Justin Pugh from practice squad

The New York Giants have placed LB Azeez Ojulari (ankle) on IR and elevated OL Justin Pugh and QB Tommy DeVito from their practice squad.

The New York Giants have placed linebacker Azeez Ojulari on injured reserve (IR) with an ankle injury, dealing a blow to their already struggling pass rush.

Ojulari missed two games earlier this year with a hamstring injury and will now miss several more before he’s eligible to return. He’s missed a combined 13 games over the past two seasons.

Replacing Ojulari on the 53-man roster is offensive lineman Jalen Mayfield, who has been signed off of the practice squad.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound Mayfield was a third-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the 2021 NFL draft. He was released in August after missing the 2022 regular season due to injury and joined the Giants’ practice squad a few days later.

Mayfield was elevated last week against the Miami Dolphins and took 45 snaps in the loss.

The Giants have also elevated offensive lineman Justin Pugh and quarterback Tommy DeVito from the practice squad. It’s the first elevation of the season for both players.

DeVito will serve as the backup to quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who is replacing the injured Daniel Jones (neck).

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Giants Evan Neal doubles down on apology, teammates weigh in

New York Giants RT Evan Neal once again expressed remorse for disparaging the fans and this time, his teammates also weighed in.

With frustration mounting, New York Giants right tackle Evan Neal took misdirected aim earlier this week, ripping into Big Blue fans as fair-weather “sheep.”

“Why would a lion concern himself with the opinion of a sheep?” Neal told NJ Advance Media. “The person that’s commenting on my performance, what does he do? Flip hot dogs and hamburgers somewhere?

“That just further shows that people are fair-weather. A lot of fans are bandwagoners. I mean, I get it: They want to see us perform well. And I respect all of that. But no one wants us to perform well more than we do. And how can you say you’re really a fan when we’re out there battling our (expletive) off — and the game wasn’t going well — but the best you can do is boo your home team? So how much of a fan are you, really?”

Almost immediately, Neal released a statement apologizing to the fans and admitting that what he had done and said was wrong.

“I am wrong for lashing out at the fans who are just as passionate and frustrated as I am,” Neal wrote. “I let my frustrations in my play and desire to win get the best of me. I had no right to make light of anyone’s job and I deeply regret the things I said.

“We are working day in and day out to grow as a team and this was an unnecessary distraction. I apologize.”

On Thursday following the team’s second practice of the week, Neal subjected himself to the firing squad and stood before the team’s beat pool to once again answer for himself.

Giants sign Justin Pugh to practice squad

The New York Giants are reuniting with offensive lineman Justin Pugh, signing him to their practice squad ahead of a Week 5 game.

The New York Giants lost two more offensive linemen — John Michael Schmitz and Shane Lemieux — to injury in Week 4 and are in desperate need of reinforcements.

They will get that in the form of a familiar face.

The Giants have signed veteran Justin Pugh to their practice squad. He had worked out for the team last week.

Pugh was selected by the Giants with the 19th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft out of Syracuse. He started 63 games over five seasons with Big Blue at both tackle and guard. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent and played in 57 games over five years for the Cards.

Pugh became a free agent again after last season.

The 6-foot-5, 311-pound Pugh played in just five games in 2022 after suffering a torn ACL in Week 6.

Expectations are that once up to speed, Pugh will be a practice squad elevation with the likelihood being that eventually signs to the 53-man roster.

In order to make room for Pugh, the Giants terminated the practice squad contract of running back Taiwan Jones.

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Giants worked out free agent OL Justin Pugh on Wednesday

The New York Giants worked out free agent OL Justin Pugh, who has expressed a desire for a reunion, this week in Arizona.

The New York Giants are in such demand of experienced help along their offensive line that they recently worked out former first-round pick Justin Pugh while they were out in Arizona this week.

Pugh was selected by the Giants with the 19th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft out of Syracuse. He started 63 games over five seasons with Big Blue at both tackle and guard. He signed with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent and played in 57 games over five years for the Cards.

Pugh became a free agent again after last season.

The 6-foot-5, 311-pound Pugh played in just five games in 2022 after suffering a torn ACL in Week 6.

The Giants are short on the offensive line right now with both tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring) and guard Ben Bredeson (concussion) sidelined.

Pugh has intimated he wouldn’t mind a reunion with his old team but the Giants had not approached him — until this week.

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Ex-Giants OL Justin Pugh offers great advice for players who get cut

As NFL teams begin trimming their rosters, former New York Giants OL Justin Pugh offers some great advice for those who get the ax.

Following their preseason finale on Saturday night, the New York Giants began trimming their roster on Sunday as the coaching staff works to reach the 53-man limit by Tuesday’s 4:00 p.m. ET deadline.

Of course, once they get down to 53 players, there will likely still be some roster shuffling as waiver claims and fresh signings are made across the league. General manager Joe Schoen will certainly be in on all of that.

With cuts happening across the NFL, former Giants offensive lineman Justin Pugh, who recently expressed interest in a reunion, took to Twitter to share some advice for players getting cut across the league.

“Cut day is here in the NFL. 1,500 men lose their careers this week. No work experience and nowhere to turn. To those men you have two choices right now,” Pugh tweeted. “1. Have a pity party and tell everyone how you got screwed and should still be in the league. 2. Pick yourself up and get to work. You can still train in case you get a call but odds are it isn’t coming.

“This is your wake-up call. You have ‘NFL player’ appeal for the next few months…leverage it! Start cold emailing friends/family (and) teammates/CEOs/Alumni and ask to come in and shadow them. Start learning what career could be next! This will give you purpose on top of training. Let’s work physically and mentally! Reach out if you’re stuck and don’t know where to start.”

Pugh was, of course, drafted by the Giants in 2013 (19th overall) and then signed with the Arizona Cardinals following his rookie deal.

Although Pugh has never fallen victim to roster cuts, he has been around the game long enough to have teammates who have gone through the process.

Roster trims are an unfortunate part of the NFL business that often gets overlooked with excitement building for the start of the regular season.

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