G Justin Pugh
August 17, 2017
Q: You’ve said before that the offensive line knows about the comments people have made about it. Do you think you guys have done a good job in the offseason of trying to change that narrative?
A: I’m excited about the direction that we’re headed in. Just watching the game film, we’re doing some good things. It has to transition to the games, though. I’m excited about going out there this week and getting some game action. Obviously, it’s a little more of an extended week for us playing on a Monday night, and again on Saturday, so we have to make sure we’re taking care of our bodies this week and really starting to get into the flow of the regular season-type schedule and getting your body ready for that.
Q: Do you guys (offensive linemen) think you got a good night in on Friday (against the Pittsburgh Steelers)?
A: We should’ve just kept running that first play over and over again. We got 80 yards and almost broke it so we should have just kept… no I’m just kidding. We did some good things. You learn from some things that happened. Obviously, we got down on the score. The offensive line is headed in the right direction.
Q: How important is it for the offense to execute even though it’s just the preseason?
A: For your confidence, it’s definitely a positive, it’s a bonus, but we want to go out there and make sure we’re doing the things to keep ascending, building things the right way. You don’t want to put much out there; we have meaningful games come September. We also want to have that confidence rolling over; to have some successful plays and run the plays you want to run and execute them the right way. Make some good blocks and have some nice catches; those are definitely going to help us.
Q: With all the protests in the NFL, as a player representative, do you have a role in terms of talking to the guys or bringing it up with Demaurice Smith and the NFLPA?
A: It’s definitely sad to see what’s going on. Head Coach Ben McAdoo would always say our country is not perfect; there are things going on that are issues. As a player rep, if guys need to come talk to us, want to do anything or reach out to the union, the union is going to have the guys’ back no matter what. That’s something that we’ll provide to everybody. It’s tough, because I didn’t even know, before I got involved in the NFLPA, what they offer to players and the protection and assistance that they can give us. Having guys reach out and get more involved in that is definitely something I’m always an advocate of
Q: Has anybody come to you in that respect?
A: We haven’t. We watched a movie the other night, which was good for the team to watch and see what’s going on. It’s definitely a touchy subject. I don’t know enough about it to make a statement on it.
Q: What was the movie?
A: “Detroit”.
Q: That was here (at the training facility)?
A: Yeah.
Q: One of the things that happened in the (Pittsburgh) game was the number of sacks and McAdoo said it wasn’t all on the (offensive) line. How much do you have to pick that up, though?
A: One was… we were supposed to run a screen, and we didn’t. That guy’s supposed to come scot-free and make a sack. On another one, the defensive lineman fell into it. It’s tough. If you’re going to look at the sacks, you’re going to blame the offensive line… If we had zero, but QB Eli Manning got hit a bunch of times, you’ll be like, ‘Oh you didn’t give up any sacks, great job!’ But if the quarterback still gets hit, we’re not doing our job. That can be a misleading statistic to look at. You have to get in there and look at the film to see how things went down and know who’s responsible for what to really be able to get a good understanding of it. I would refer all of those questions to like a Shaun O’Hara or David Diehl that can really tell you about offensive line play.
Q: How important is it to find consistency in the rushing game?
A: It’s huge, and it’s going to help us when we get down to the green zone. (That’s) the biggest area where we have to score more points than we did last year. We have to be more efficient and more consistent when we get down into the green zone. Running the ball is going to help us do that. I’m excited because that first play (in the Pittsburgh game) actually had two guys run into each other. It was literally just bad luck. If we wouldn’t have had that, that play would’ve hit too. It’s something good to build off of, but obviously getting some playmakers out there and having the full offense with all those weapons out there will deter some of those defenses from dropping an extra safety in the box or doing some of those things.
