Justin Pugh, NFL Offenvie Lineman

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See terms and learn more at discover.com slash match. We continue this at Gelb Show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Let's go out to the guest line right now. Welcome in an NFL offensive lineman, played with the New York Giants and also the Arizona Cardinals. We'll see what's next for him.

And that of course is Justin Pugh. Justin, appreciate the time. How you been? I'm doing well. How are you?

Well, I'm doing fantastic. So you tore the ACL in October, unfortunate season for you and the Cardinals last year. Just take me through where you're at right now as you're gearing up for another season of football with it right around the corner.

Yeah. So a few weeks ago, I got cleared for full football activity. I started back up with LaCharles Bentley at his gym out here in Arizona, doing O-line specific training.

The knee's in great shape. I feel very confident on the path that I'm in. I'm not ready to play in the game tomorrow. I still have to have a ramp up period, get back into it, go against some live D linemen. So there's still a little bit to get accomplished, but I'm looking to sign with the contender.

I'm looking to sign with the team that's going to make a playoff run. So if they need me to play weeks one and two, it might not be the team I'm looking to play for anyways. But what have you learned from this process? Clearly injuries are a part of the game.

You've been through a lot. You just came off your 10th season in the NFL. When you look back about what the journey's been like since October, what has it taught you? I thought I was done with football. I didn't think I would be playing this year. I went into this off season, let's just get healthy to live life. And as you start training and the NFL guys come around, I was training at this place called Exos for my PT out here in Arizona. So you had Saquon Barkley, Isaiah Simmons was out here, two giants, some other offensive lineman guys that I played with. You start to get that itch and teams call and they said, hey, what are you thinking about?

What are your plans for this year? We can really use your services. And it's good to be wanted. It's a nice feeling to know teams still want you to play for them and contenders still want you to play for them.

Teams that have Superbowl aspirations. And I started going through that process. I'm getting ready to have a daughter in January. Congratulations. Thank you. And a goal of mine was have her be on the field with me in a game.

So she's gonna be born in January. So I need to either be in a championship game or a Superbowl for her to be there, but that's part of a goal. And the last part is I never want to walk off the field injured. I've had some injuries in my career. I mean, I've started 120 games in the NFL, so I know a lot of giants fans will give me a hard time about the injuries, but it's a 100% chance you could injure playing football. If you look back on my draft class, there's not a lot of guys that have 120 games under their belt. So that's something that's somewhat of a misconception. When you go and play for the Cardinals, some of the New York fans like to run with that narrative.

So I always like to nip that in the bud. It's not like I'm some journeyman player. Every time I put the pads on, I've started for the NFL my entire career. So if I was an NFL GM as Justin Pugh's here with us, and I say, as you get ready for this new journey, what do you still bring to a football team?

What would that answer be in your mind? Yeah, I'm one of the best pass protecting left guards in football. You can look at the stats, you can put the film on, however you want to quantify that. There's not many guys that can pass protect better than I can. In the run game, I'm a zone blocker. I'm going to get on guys, I'm going to get to the second level, use my athleticism. I'm not the biggest guy.

I'm not a mauler. Dave Gettleman was looking for a hog molly, and that's not me. And that's where me and the giants went our separate ways. But the NFL is really not that game anymore. And I think I bring on the field, those are the things I bring to the table off the field. I've learned what it takes to be a part of a great offensive line.

It's five guys coming together. It's being a leader in the way we do things off the field as well. Having those camaraderie moments where you're having the offensive line over for dinner every Thursday night, you're truly integrating yourself to be a part of the lives of the guys you're playing with. And that's what we did in Arizona the last few years. And we've had some success with that on the offensive line. Now, clearly last year wasn't a great year for us. We had some injuries as well, but I know what it takes to be successful off the field. And I think even in a place like New York, it's even tougher because the fan base is so in tune with what's going on. And there's a lot of pressure when you're playing in a market like New York or Philadelphia or New England.

Some places that the fan bases aren't as rabid, it's a little bit easier for a young guy to come in and play. I think of a guy like Evan Neil right now. And I was in Evan Neil's shoes. He was a first round pick, so was I. He was a left tackle in college, so was I. They moved him to right tackle.

He's not as comfortable there. And he's learning to play that position. But the kid has all the talent in the world. He's going to be a pro bowler, an all pro.

They all got on Andrew Thomas too. And look how he's turned out. And that's something where I think I can come in and be a calming presence because I've been in his shoes and I know what it's like to play in that city. And we'll see how it works out. The Giants aren't the only team out there that I'm interested in.

Obviously, it'd be a great reunion, but it's a two-way street. So there has to be some interest on both sides. Have you had extensive conversations yet with the Giants? We're waiting to see.

I think we have touched base with them a few times. They wanted to see what their guards looked like in training camp. Obviously, they had a high draft pick that was coming in this year. I think he's starting at center. I don't want to get his name wrong. Schmitz is, yeah, right? He's starting at center.

You had Bredesen, who's been playing really good football, Azudo who's high draft pick. He's been playing well, still learning. The issue with playing in New York is there's a lot of pressure. If you go out there and have one bad snap, you're going to hear it. And that starts to eat at a guy's confidence. So in my opinion, for offensive lineman in New York City, I would redshirt every offensive lineman I bring to the New York Giants, give them a chance to practice, to learn how to pick up stunts because offensive lines, not just about dominating the guy across from you, because if that was the case, Evan Neal would just be dominating every game because he physically can just put his hands on everybody and just take them from point A to point B against their will.

It's working with a unit, working with the quarterback, learning how the games are picked up, learning safety rotation. And that's something that I think takes time and a big market like that with the pressure they put on the players, rightfully so. I mean, it's part of what makes New York so great. When you win in New York, there's no better feeling.

There's a reason why guys want to come back or take less money or sign deals and never leave. It's because New York has that energy. But I think there's a way to to build a team in New York. It can't be not all teams can be built the same way because you don't have the same pressures in other in other scenarios.

How did you handle that? Like, what advice would you give to a younger player? Because you're right in a lot of the Northeast markets. And it's a great thing to be part of. You have a passionate fan base.

But with that, they're judging literally every snap of a career very early on. Yeah, it's funny because I was that fan. I grew up a foot county.

So I know how that goes. I was the one that was doing Trey Thomas and John Runyon and all those Eagles players back in the back in the day. And then I was on the flip side of it, going to New York and being a first round pick, you're expected to make an impact right away. And we were two years removed from winning a Super Bowl. And my rookie year, we started out oh, and six.

And the sky was falling. I felt like it was my fault. And then my second year, I have one of the worst games in my career.

I have a bunch of sacks. And so I've been to the lows of lows thinking I couldn't play in the NFL and this game wasn't for me. And there's a point where you turn around and you decide whether I'm going to fight and come out the other side and just not give a s*** when I guess I don't know if I can curse.

Sorry for that. You just got to really just drop down and decide who you want to become. And every player is going to have that moment. And it's you either come out the other side victorious or you don't. And every player is going to find out. But to have guys you can lean on in the locker room, that's something that is hugely important. Talking to Justin Pugh right now. So clearly you're interested in the Giants and other teams as well. You said, though, you want to play for a contender.

It's one thing to go back where you got your career started. But why do you kind of view that the Giants are ready to make that next step and be a Super Bowl contender? Yeah, I mean, I think the team is won and lost for the defensive line. That's really and for an offensive lineman to say that, you have to know how sick that makes me feel. If I was a GM, I would have eight starting defensive linemen.

I think Philadelphia is another team that's built to win. They always have eight defensive linemen. And it's always something that I would do if I was a GM. I wouldn't pay the quarterback. I pay my D lineman first.

They'd be my highest priority. Then I'd bring in veteran offensive lineman and a quarterback that can get the job done. But back to the Giants and how they're built. I think their defenses took tremendous strides last year. You saw what Dexter Lawrence did in the playoff game.

And then you see what they're building around. You have Saquon, one of the best weapons in the NFL and Daniel Jones getting his contract situated this year and how he ascended last year getting to the playoffs. They're definitely a contender. And I think if you look at the NFC in general, it's a weaker conference overall top to bottom. Like if I put a gun to your head right now and said, Hey, tell me a team from the NFC that you think is going to make it. There's four or five teams you're going to name. If I did the same thing with the AFC, there's probably 10 teams that you could say I could see that team making a run next year.

Yeah. I don't even think there's four teams in the NFC. Like right now in the NFC, I would just say Philadelphia and the 49ers. Now I know that it doesn't always go the way that you expected and other two teams will probably emerge, but until someone takes down the Eagles or the 49ers right now, those are the two Superbowl contenders for me in the NFC.

Yeah, no, I agree. You look at the giants, the Cowboys have all the talent in the world. They've, they've missed the past few years, but they have the talent. You look at a team like Detroit. Detroit has a lot of weapons and Detroit's a team you wouldn't want to play.

Like they just had their young, they're hungry. They had their well-coached. Then you go over to the AFC and you're throwing against a dartboard. You say Kansas city, Kansas city definitely is there, but after Kansas city, it's like Cincinnati, definitely Cincinnati is there. The bills are there, but both those teams, like, I mean, look at the AFC East, you have the Patriots, you have Miami, who's better. You have the jets now with Rogers. There's a lot of moving parts, but the NFC, I think has the easiest road to the Superbowl. I know you started your career with the giants and you talked about maybe wanting to make a return to the giants, Justin pews here with us, would you maybe welcome a contract and a situation for one year with the jets with the way that they're being hyped up right now?

Cause they gotta be a contender. Yeah, the jets are definitely a contender. And, you know, I played in the green Bay system with Ben McAdoo in New York, the offensive coordinator in New York, the jets is Nathaniel Hackett, who was my offensive coordinator in college. I'm really looking to play left guard. That's that's the position that I want to play. They have a really good left guard and like in Tomlinson and the giants, I don't know who their left guard is at the moment, but Ben Bredesen's played really well.

He's a, he's a heck of a football player. So, you know, those guys have first crack at it and, you know, it's the NFL there's injuries that happen. There could be a team like the, you know, any other of those contender teams that I named, they have a left guard injury, you know, go in and play that position.

I obviously I can play right guard. I prefer to play left and I prefer to play for a non rookie quarterback. I'm really looking for, unless you can tell me a rookie that's won a Super Bowl, then maybe that'll change my opinion. Justin Pugh here with us. Well, your old quarterback, Kyler Murray, he's gotten a lot of criticism for the lack of leadership skills and, you know, his work ethic has been called into question. Can you just kind of tell me your experience with Kyler Murray and what you think he needs to improve on?

Yeah. I mean, obviously I think Kyler's coming into a big year on his, for, for his, for his career. He's, he's taken a lot of slack and that's why the quarterback position gets paid what they do. And it's not to say like to, to bring money into it, but a quarterback, if things are going well, they get all the praise.

And if things are going bad, they're going to catch all the slack. And I will say this. When I got to Arizona in 2018, we were historically probably the worst offense in NFL history. Tyler came in and made the Cardinals relevant. Again, people talk about the Arizona Cardinals. We have prime time games.

We didn't have those in 2018. Kyler has single-handedly helped turn the franchise around with some key components around him. He is at a point in his career where he has to choose what he wants to do and who he wants to be. And I'm looking forward to that because I know what type of man he is. I know what type of competitor he is. And I think he's going to go out and prove a lot of people wrong.

I think, you know, there's a lot of doubt and that's just going to add fuel to his fire. He's won at every level. He never lost in high school, goes and plays one year in college as a Heisman trophy winner. He's been a pro bowler in the NFL. I think there's a little bit of embarrassment for how the Cardinals finished last year.

And I wear that as well. You know, we were, we ended, we started out 8-0 two years ago, end up faltering down the stretch and losing those games. Our GM and head coach get fired and now it looks like they're heading for a different path. I think the Cardinals will rebuild quickly. I just don't think this is going to be the year. I don't even know if Kyler will play this year. When you say that he has to make a decision, he has to choose like how this wants to play out.

What do you mean by that? Like, what does he have to do? Continue to grow as a player. I mean, every year you take on more of a role as a leader, as the guy on that team. And when he first came in, we had Larry Fitzgerald, who was the face of the franchise.

Then we have DeAndre Hopkins come in. Now it's on Kyler. I mean, this is Kyler's team and in the past two years, it's been Kyler's team. And we started out 8-0.

So you can, you see what the ability that we have to do, but we have to get this, the whole team heading in the right direction. We would have flashes where the offense will play great. And then the defense would have played great and the offense will play bad. And Kyler where's part of that. The offensive line didn't protect him well enough last year. We didn't run the ball well enough last year.

And then there's parts that he had to pick up. So it's, it's a true team sport. And that's why, you know, it goes back to my opinion on how I would build my team. I would build my team from the D line D line out.

I think if you can have consistent pressure, you can win games no matter what's going on at the quarterback position. So it goes back to my overall philosophy on if I was a GM. So if someone wants to give me a GM spot, I can go right to the GM and we'll make it work.

Yeah. I don't know how a lot of fan bases would operate in that theory. A lot of guys want to see those quarterbacks play for you because, Hey, you don't know what your future holds. Clearly you've said that you want to play. You've, you've been in the league for 10 years now. You know, you're on that 17th, 18th hole of your NFL career.

What do you think life after football, what will start to look like for Justin? Yeah. Well, that's a good question.

I asked myself that question three or four years ago. I remember when COVID hit the Cardinals came to me and they said, Hey, you have to take a pay cut. You're 30 years old. You're not an all pro.

You're not a pro bowler. But like I said, I've been a very good player. They still wanted me around. They're like, Hey, you have to take a pay cut and we're going to put some incentives into your contract.

So as you play, you earn it. And I was like, screw you guys. I'm going to retire, walk away after eight years.

Like I don't, I'm not, I don't have to prove anything to you. Yeah. And then I was humbled. I came back and I had some good conversations with my wife, my agent, my family. And it was like, what do you want to do next?

What do you want to, you know, who do you want to be? And realize that the NFL is a business. You have to have to prove every single time you step on that field, who am I to think that I'm bigger than having to go take a pay cut and take incentives.

Everyone's not everyone. A lot of guys have had to go through that process. So I had to come to Jesus moment. I started to think what I wanted to do if I did want to retire. And that was real estate started working and interning for a real estate developer in Phoenix, unpaid, just trying to learn the language, learn to speak it. I've been doing that the past two years in the off-seasons realize that playing football opened up and afforded a lot of opportunities to network in that space. And that's what I've been doing. I've been networking. I've been reconnecting with a lot of people in New York. A lot of, a lot of contacts I've been spreading my wings out here in Arizona.

I think my wife and I will keep our house here and stay here and head down that path into real estate. And that's something that I'm looking forward to. And hopefully that career will bear the same fruit my NFL career did because if I didn't play another step, I can sleep easy knowing I gave everything to the game, but I still got a little left in the tank.

So we got to go do at least one more. It's crazy how quickly time flies by because I remember a mutual friend of ours who was doing some work with the Dave silver. He hit me up like 10 years ago and he goes, Hey, there's this guy named Justin Pugh. Like I know me be played at Syracuse going to be a first round pick.

He's like, you got to put them on and do an interview. And then here we are 10 years later in a snap of a finger. And we're already talking about what life after football looks like for you. So this probably has been a blur right for you.

It's been a blur. I mean, that just means how old you're getting. Like I feel young, like I'm, you know, I'm, you know, I did a biological age test the other day and I'm in better shape now than when I left New York. When I left New York, I was probably 315 pounds, not in as good a shape. I'm in better shape now. I'm moving better now than I was when I left New York. I'm a better player now than when I left New York. And I'm excited to get back out there and play and prove that, you know, and finish my career on my terms. Well, Hey, good luck. Whatever the future has in store. I really do appreciate you doing this. Justin Pugh. We'll do it again soon. When, whenever you latch on with the new team to try to go win that Superbowl. No, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot.