Giants lineman Justin Pugh wants nothing more than to win in hometown of Philly

Of course Justin Pugh recalls his first game in Philadelphia. He was a rookie. It was a return to the area where he grew up and so many of his childhood friends were there (rooting for their beloved Eagles, naturally). And the Giants won. What’s not to remember?

“Wasn’t Matt Barkley there at the time?” he asked, even having some vague sense that the Giants’ current practice squad quarterback had also played in that game as a rookie, replacing Michael Vick early on. “Full circle moment for Barkley,” Pugh noted when his intuition was confirmed. “He’s on our side now.”

Another little factoid, one not quite as endearing to the Giants’ locker room: That 2013 game was also the last time the Giants won at the Linc.

Pugh wasn’t aware of that one. He spent five years with the Cardinals so wasn’t keeping track of all the Giants’ numerous woes during that span.

But he knows on Monday, Christmas Day, the Giants will have another in their annual chances to come away with a road victory in the closest geographical division rivalry in the NFL. And he knows that while the franchise will have opportunities to play in Philadelphia next year and every year after that, if this one doesn’t go their way, he might not.

The veteran offensive lineman, who was rehabbing a torn ACL and on the cusp of retirement when he came “straight off the couch” to play for the Giants in October and found himself pressed into immediate action at a variety of positions before settling in as the starting guard, told Newsday he would like to continue playing beyond this season.

“I’m not going straight back to the couch,” he said of his plans.

But he has also made it clear that he wants to play for the Giants or no one else, which means the team will have more to say about his future than he does. Pugh has served a fine purpose for this year’s team, providing leadership, stability, and generally solid play (he had his worst game of the season Sunday in New Orleans).

“He's been a pro in that room,” coach Brian Daboll said. “I think he contributes in a positive way to all the younger players. He’s done everything we've asked him to do. Glad we got him.”

But next year the Giants may decide to go in a different direction. They may want to get younger on the offensive line, start to develop some of the next generation of linemen that they bring in.

So while Pugh doesn’t necessarily think Monday will be his last game in Philadelphia against the Eagles, it very well might wind up being his final chance at a “home” win on the road. At age 33 his opportunities are, at the least, dwindling down to a precious few.

“Obviously I love where I’m from,” he said. “I love the city of Philadelphia. Do I love playing the Eagles? No. Even dating back to 11 years ago they’ve had our number … I would love to beat them.”

It would be a sweet bookend for Pugh, beginning his career with a win there and then getting another one a decade later toward the end of his NFL tenure.

He’s lined up in the Linc six times in his career, all with the Giants between 2013 and 2017, and lost the last five of those games. There were some thrillers, like the 27-24 loss on a 61-yard field goal as time expired in 2017, the last time he played there. There were also some miserable ones, like a Sunday Night in 2014 which Pugh still calls “the worst game I ever played,” an ignominy generally overshadowed by also being the night Victor Cruz tore his patellar tendon.

Interestingly, how Pugh plays on Monday could go a long way in determining whether he ever gets another chance to play in Philadelphia and another season with the Giants. He’s looking for a big rebound after allowing four sacks to the Saints.

“This is the perfect time to show who I am as a man, who I am as a player,” he said. “You’re going to have bad games. People are all up 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 am going to do. That’s why I am here.”

He also knows that the other younger offensive linemen he is mentoring are going to be watching him to see how he reacts to his most recent struggle.

“Hey, there are going to be bumps in the road, there are going to be bad games,” he said. “You don’t always go out and pitch a shutout. Yeah, there are Hall of Famers who go out and do that, but for most of us, you have to keep battling week in and week out. What better way to do that than going down to Philadelphia and playing one of the best d-lines in football?”

Last offseason Pugh thought his knee injury would be the end of his playing days. He spent all of his time rehabbing so he wasn’t really preparing to be back on the field. A fortuitous tryout with the Giants during their September stay where he now lives in the Phoenix area changed that, but Pugh is still feeling the effects of the lost time. He came in weighing 275, about 25 pounds lighter than an offensive lineman normally is, and while he has managed to add 10 pounds since then it hasn’t been “good” weight.

So when this season ends in three weeks Pugh said he plans to go back to training as if he is playing in 2024. He’ll become a father for the first time in January, try to add muscle to get his weight up and, come March, see what the landscape holds for him.

“If you ask my family they’ll say ‘Every year you keep telling us that, and then you keep coming back to play one more,’ ” he said. “I just take it one game at a time. I’m having fun. I’m glad to be back. I’m glad to be back in this city.”

Even though he and the Giants haven’t had much success there since that first time they made the trip down the Turnpike together in 2013, Pugh is glad to be going to the city he calls both home and his favorite road destination in the league.

Savoring it, perhaps, more this time than any previous one. Soaking in the eggs hurled at the team buses and the middle finger salutes for his own personal posterity.

“It’s gonna be loud, gonna be raucous, gonna be intense,” Pugh said. “My gym teacher and 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 football in.”

And it’s the one in which he most wants to win.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.