Justin Pugh: 'Straight from the couch' and into a crouch
Giants guard Justin Pugh celebrates after defeating the Broncos in an NFL game on Oct. 15, 2017, in Denver. Credit: AP
Justin Pugh smiled in the Giants’ locker room.
A locker room he improbably rejoined in recent days, swooping in to help an offensive line that needed it.
That he came “straight off the couch” will live on as a pregame TV introduction that may never be equaled.
It’s become clear in recent days, as Pugh has settled into a corner locker, that he missed being a Giant.
And the Giants certainly have missed someone like him.
All of this reunion stuff started innocently enough. Pugh and his wife were having dinner over the summer with friends in New York City. Pugh thought he heard Jerry Seinfeld’s voice. Sure enough, Seinfeld was sitting across from the Pugh party.
Pugh was inspired. He reached out to his agent: “Text the Giants. I wanna come back.”
Pugh laughed while standing in front of his locker.
“So really, if it wasn’t for Jerry Seinfeld, I don’t know if I would be here right now,” he said in a conversation with Newsday.
Pugh and his family live in Arizona, so when the Giants were there to play the Cardinals, members of the organization worked out Pugh near his home. Sure enough, with the injuries on the offensive line, they had a need.
Pugh signed on to the Giants’ practice squad on Oct. 3.
On Oct. 15, he started at left guard against the Bills. When left tackle Joshua Ezeudu suffered a foot injury in the first quarter and couldn’t continue, Pugh moved to left tackle. At that point, he had played five snaps at left tackle since 2015.
“He’s a true pro,” coach Brian Daboll said.
Pugh said of his second tenure as a Giant: “It was just meant to be.”
In 2013, Pugh was the Giants’ first-round draft pick. He played five seasons for them before signing as a free agent with the Cardinals in 2018.
At the end of his five years in Arizona, having suffered a serious knee injury in his 10th season, Pugh didn’t know if he would play again.
“All I can promise you is, I’ll go out there and fight,” he told the Giants.
Pugh has big plans for the Giants’ offensive line, on and off the field.
“He’s a true vet, and you just felt his presence when we signed him,” quarterback Tyrod Taylor said. “His leadership, his communication on the field, it goes a long way. And it helps a younger line.”
Pugh calls his approach simple.
“It’s just about being good guys,” he said. “That’s all it is. Holding the door for people. The little things matter so much. The guys are so young. But if you don’t [take the time to learn about] the guy next to you, it makes it hard.
“When I play next to Mark Glowinski, I know that Mark has a wife and two daughters. And that makes a difference. I want to help him do his job, then I do my job. And that’s what makes a great offensive line.”
Helping to set the standard in the offensive line room is part of Pugh’s goal. The other is to build camaraderie.
“I know what to do off the field with the offensive line,” he said. “But if you don’t love playing with the guys that you’re with, if you don’t laugh and have fun, you can never go out there truly as a unit.”
Pugh is a fan of hosting offensive line dinners.
“You got to know the guys’ wives, know their kids, their dogs’ names,” he said. “If you can do that, I don’t care about the X’s-and-O’s as much. Because you’re going to play hard. That’s what it takes, and we’re building that.”
Pugh also is intent on taking Ezeudu, who was struggling before his injury, under his wing.
“Me and him, we started with a great relationship, and we still will [continue that with Ezeudu on IR],” Pugh said. “I want to make sure we take care of him. We’ll keep him close. I told him, ‘You still come to every O-line dinner. You’re going to take my job [someday]. That’s the goal, for you to take my job.’ ”
Teammates have taken notice of the Pugh effect. How could they not?
“He’s been awesome, an awesome addition to the room,” offensive lineman Ben Bredeson said. “He’s brought an uplifting [feeling] to the room. He’s put wind in a lot of guys’ sails. He’s been a great veteran addition for us.”
For Pugh these days, that’s truly what it’s all about.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
