EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Justin Pugh has found his inner child, because he's overjoyed to be playing again.
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"I'm happy, I've been running around like a little kid all week," Pugh said. "You don't realize how much you miss something until it gets taken away from you."
Pugh missed the Giants' last two games because of a concussion he suffered in a victory at Tampa Bay on Nov. 8. In addition to the disappointment of not playing against New England and Washington, Pugh dealt with fear and uncertainty, because he hadn't before experienced such an injury.
"Never, never in my life," he said. "I was scared, I'm not going to lie. I was definitely scared by it. It was something that definitely woke me up, and made sure that you have to take care of yourself and make sure you're doing the proper things right, especially when you go into the (concussion) protocol, to take the baby steps and do things right. Obviously, it hurts on Sunday, especially that first one, the first time I had to watch a game on T.V. and it was no fun."
This season, Pugh has started eight games at left guard and one at left tackle, after playing right tackle in his first two seasons. After practicing without a setback this week, he is officially listed as probable for the Giants' home game Sunday against the Jets.
Pugh is one of three offensive linemen on the injury report. Center Weston Richburg (ankle) and right tackle Marshall Newhouse (back) are questionable.
Richburg did not play last Sunday in Washington and has been limited in practice this week. He's been optimistic about his chances of facing the Jets. The Giants don't have a full-scale practice on Friday, so Richburg will know more after the team's workout tomorrow morning.
"Hopefully I'll be able to go," Richburg said. "I'm looking forward to being out there again. I think (coach Tom Coughlin) wants us all out there. Tomorrow will be a big day."
Asked whether the remaining questions concern his strength or mobility, Richburg said, "It's everything, really. It's a mixture of both. You have to be able to anchor in the pass pro, and push some guys around in the run game, as well. We'll be testing it for sure tomorrow to see how well I'm able to do those things."
"He's worked, he's gotten a little bit more work each day, and he's pretty positive," Coughlin said. "We'll see tomorrow morning."
Keep an eye on these five players as the Giants face the New York Jets Sunday
RB SHANE VEREEN While the Giants see the Jets just once every four years, Shane Vereen knows Gang Green better than anyone on the team from his AFC East days with the Patriots. Vereen saved some of his best performances for the Jets throughout his four years in New England, racking up 356 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in five games. The Patriots won all five outings, and Vereen notched receiving touchdowns from distances of 83 and 49 yards, which are the longest and third-longest of his career. "I don't really sense much of a rivalry, but I do sense this is a humongous game for both teams as far as where we want to get to at the end of the season, as far as our goals for continuing this season and just playing well," Vereen said. "I know, personally, we have a lot of things offensively -- goals -- that we need to get to and start playing better. So I think in that sense, it's a huge game for both teams."
CB DOMINIQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE The Giants' cornerback tandem of Dominique Rodgers Cromartie and Prince Amukamara will be part of a key matchup on Sunday against Jets receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who combine for 1,631 yards and 17 touchdowns this season. "I'm not going to obviously give away the game plan," defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. "But I do think both Prince and DRC are competitive guys and somewhere in the game they're going to find themselves covering a pretty good threat."
WR HAKEEM NICKS Hakeem Nicks, the Giants' 2009 first-round draft pick, made his return to Big Blue last week in Washington. He was targeted two times and caught one pass for four yards. "He came in last week, he was motivated, he's still motivated," McAdoo said. "He's out there working, he's getting some reps again in our stuff and helping out in a bunch of different areas. He's still learning, each week is a new week, each plan is a new plan, and this defense is obviously a lot different than the one we saw last week. He'll be ready to go. We're confident he'll be ready to go."
WR ODELL BECKHAM JR. While the Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Darrelle Revis matchup is likely put on hold as the All-Pro cornerback remains in the concussion protocol, the Giants' wide receiver searches for his fifth-straight game with at least 100 receiving yards. He will do so in the comforts of MetLife Stadium, where he has 11 touchdowns and seven 100-yard performances in 11 games. "Last time I was concerned, it wasn't me versus Revis," Beckham said. "It would have been fun to be able to go against a guy like that. Obviously, you know I have high praise for him. Unfortunate that he's not playing, but down the road, you never know, there may be a matchup there. But right now we're focused on beating the Jets."
OL JUSTIN PUGH After missing the last two games with a concussion, Justin Pugh looks to bring back some normalcy to an offensive line that needed to shuffle recently. Fellow guard Geoff Schwartz was placed on injured reserve this week with a fractured lower leg, and right tackle Marshall Newhouse has been unable to practice with a back injury. That makes John Jerry and rookie Bobby Hart the next men up while center Weston Richburg has been limited by an ankle injury. Whoever is in there will have a tough test against the Jets' No. 1 rushing defense. "We talk to the players about it all the time: you can only control what you can control," offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said. "We're going to show up and play on Sunday, doesn't matter who has a suit and who doesn't have a suit and we'll go from there. We'll have confidence in the guys that are playing and they're working out there right now, they've been working this week and we'll go with who's playing."
Newhouse, who has started every game, said his pain didn't surface until the day after the Washington game.
"I woke up Monday and could barely move," he said. "I was just like, 'Don't be stupid, tell somebody, see what they have to say.' So from then on, it was just make sure there's nothing, like they said, lingering or that's going to be a long-term issue. (They) found out there really wasn't. And from then on it was just making sure you can improve enough, maybe not focus on getting back Sunday, but make sure that it's something you can come back from quickly. And then I think Sunday was in the picture once I started feeling better the next day and the next day and the next day."
"He's feeling better," Coughlin said. "I think we need to see him do some football-related things, which the way we're working now, we'd get a chance tomorrow morning to do that."
Asked if his availability for the Jets will be a game-time decision, Newhouse said, "You can say that."
If he doesn't play, rookie Bobby Hart is a candidate to replace him. The Giants could also move Pugh back to right tackle.
No matter where he plays, Pugh said he will not be worried about his concussion.
"I went out there (Thursday) and I hit heads with somebody, and soon as I got that first hit, I was good," he said. "That's something that as a football player, that's my instincts going out there, just to play the way I've always played, be aggressive, and I'm never not going to play that way. That's why I wanted to make sure I felt 100 percent before I went back and did it. I was able to do a lot of bag drills, so building that progression helps you build that confidence back up. I haven't put pads on since the Tampa Bay game, so that's going to be a big thing in warmups, to make sure I get some nice contact and feel good about it."
• The Giants will be without two defensive starters Sunday in linebacker Devon Kennard (hamstring/foot) and safety Brandon Meriweather (knee). In addition, tight end Larry Donnell will miss his fourth consecutive game with a neck injury.
Kennard sat out two games earlier this season with a hamstring injury. Mark Herzlich started in his place at strongside linebacker vs. San Francisco, and Unai 'Unga and J.T. Thomas started at Philadelphia, where the Giants opened the game in a two-linebacker alignment.
Meriweather has started every game at strong safety opposite rookie Landon Collins. Craig Dahl and Cooper Taylor are the other safeties on the roster.
In addition to Pugh, defensive ends Robert Ayers (toe) and Jason Pierre-Paul (hand) and fullback Nikita Whitlock, whose absence from practice Thursday was not injury related, are probable.
• The tragic shooting that claimed 14 lives Wednesday in San Bernardino, Calif. hit home for the Giants when they learned that one of the victims was a cousin of safety Nat Berhe. The second-year pro is on injured reserve.
"(It's) just a very sad thing," coach Tom Coughlin said. "I didn't realize the proximities or anything like that. Everyone's tried to express themselves to Nat about how sorry we feel about that circumstance. And of course, for everyone in our country, it's a sad, sad situation."
Coughlin was asked if the players are affected, and how that relates to their preparation for an important game Sunday vs. the Jets.
"Well, how can you not be?" he said. "How can you not be? You're a citizen of this country, and you have this circumstance that's taking place in our country and just, why? And how? Where's the value of life? What do these statements mean? What in the world are we up against? I think that they are affected by it, no doubt, they're very aware of what has transpired. I'm sure they join all of us in wishing it would stop and it wasn't a part of our world today, but unfortunately, it is."
Coughlin said he has not yet an opportunity to speak to Berhe.
"He's not here today," Coughlin said. "He was here yesterday and, quite frankly, I didn't know anything about it until later on in the day. But a bunch of the players saw him and talked to him."
