Arizona Cardinals guard Justin Pugh is feeling “nostalgic” about facing his former team, the New York Giants.
When Dave Gettleman took over as the general manager of the New York Giants towards the end of 2017, he had numerous changes to implement.
It was an organization finishing off a 3-13 year, one in which moves desperately needed to be made in order to put this ballclub on the right track. In Gettleman’s opinion, one of those moves was to not re-sign Justin Pugh.
Big Blue had previously drafted Pugh with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Syracuse. He played and started in 63 games for New York from 2013-17 at numerous positions across the offensive line. The issue was Pugh’s health, as he only played in all 16 games just once (his rookie season).
Now an Arizona Cardinal, Pugh will play against the Giants for the first time this Sunday. Ultimately, there are no hard feelings between the two parties.
“I still love New York, I love the fans, there’s still a part of me in New York,” Pugh told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “I grew up in that city, so it’s definitely going to be fun to come back. Gonna be all smiles on my part.”
According to the man himself, Pugh won’t be any sort of angry heading into MetLife Stadium.
“Probably nostalgic,” he said of what his emotions will be. “I don’t really hold any resentment. I don’t know any of the coaches on the staff, I don’t even know Dave Gettleman, he made a business decision for the team, he took that team in the direction he wanted to go to.”
Pugh’s health has continued to be an issue, as he only played in seven games for Arizona last year. The Cardinals placed him on season-ending injured reserve in November of 2018 with a left knee injury.
However, the veteran has played in all six games for the Cardinals thus far in 2019, as the team is sporting a 2-3-1 record heading into this next matchup.
The 2-4 Giants will play host to Arizona on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
