Offensive Lineman Justin Pugh
Q: Is it hard to believe that you haven't won, the Giants haven't won, in Philly since your rookie year?
A: Really? Was (quarterback) Matt Barkley the quarterback at the time? Was Matt Barkley there? Was he the starting quarterback?
Q: He was. (Quarterback Michael) Vick started, but he got hurt and Matt came in.
A: Full circle moment for Barkley there. He's on our side now.
I mean, that's a crazy stat. Philly's been really good. They've done a good job. You've got to give a hat off to them. Yeah, we'd love to beat them.
Q: What would you tell (quarterback Tommy) DeVito – I don't know if he's asked you what to expect on Christmas Day at the Linc(oln Financial Field)?
A: It's going to be loud; it's going to be raucous, 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. 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.
Q: You were pretty upfront after the game the other day about how poorly you thought you played. Did the film back that up?
A: Yeah, there's probably four plays I want back from the game: the sacks. You can't give up sacks. It kills drives, kills momentum. 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.
Q: How do you think Tommy will handle the atmosphere?
A: I mean, he's a gamer. He's got that confidence. He's going to show up and play well. It's going to be a great environment. It's exciting for him. This is one of the first times going down to Philadelphia, you go play your rivals, you get to go to Dallas, get to go to Philly. All those are intense games.
Q: How about the most raucous you ever experienced in Philly as a Giant?
A: There are some Sunday night games. I mean, we can go back, the worst game I've ever played was in Philly on a primetime game when I was at right tackle, I think it was like, my second year in the league. It gets crazy. When you let them start drinking at 8 a.m. and they have an entire afternoon to drink, it gets pretty crazy in there.
Q: What have you seen from those guys up front?
A: Those guys are unbelievable upfront. I played against them last year in Arizona. It doesn't correlate as much to this rivalry, but played against all those guys. You have (Eagles defensive tackle) Fletcher Cox, Hall of Famer, (Eagles defensive end) Brandon Graham, probably Hall of Famer, you have the young D-tackles from Georgia, Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, unbelievable players. Philadelphia just brings the defensive line and that's on the offensive line to go out there and battle with them.
Q: You don't see a defensive tackle as a rookie be as productive as Jalen Carter has been. What's unique about him as a rookie that kind of makes him tough on tape?
A: He can do it all. He's got power, he's got speed, plays hard, plays with a little chip on his shoulder, reminds you of a young (Rams defensive lineman) Aaron Donald. So, he's doing a lot of good things on film. I mean, that's a lofty praise but you saw it even when he came out. There are very few guys in the interior that do things like that, and for him to go to a situation like Philadelphia… I don't know how the heck he fell to Philadelphia. I know there were some other things that went into that equation, but he's a great player. We've got to do our job.
Q: Your very first time playing in Philly, what do you remember about that?
A: I don't remember it. We won, that's what I just found out. But yeah, I don't remember that.
Q: '14 you mentioned was the year you played at right tackle in primetime. It was the night that Vick got hurt in the endzone.
A: Yeah, and we lost, like, 30-something to nothing, I think it was.
Q: There were times the Giants have been close in Philly at times when you were here and when you weren't here, but when that snowball gets rolling down there…
A: Yeah, I mean, you put any team in that situation. Name the best offensive line in the league. Philadelphia's a name that comes to mind, one of the best offensive lines, you look at Detroit, all those teams when you get down in games are going to struggle from the offensive line perspective. The defensive line has no responsibility besides rushing the passer. It's going to look bad. And that goes for anyone across the league. So, you've got to play complementary football, you have to play good defense, execute on offense, be able to establish the run. Those are things that are just basic fundamentals. Look at a team like San Francisco or Miami. Their
offensive line looks great every week because they scheme, and they run the ball so well that it helps them in pass protection.
