The "Sunday Night Football" intros always have a few unique origins throughout the NFL season. Justin Pugh certainly can add his to the most legendary intros.
Starters on "Sunday Night Football" are asked to do a quick video intro of themselves saying their name, and typically what school for which they played in college. Some players opt to turn to high schools or other unique sayings. Pugh, the left guard, went the route of the latter.
"Justin Pugh, straight off the couch," he said in the intro.
"Justin Pugh, straight off the couch." 😂pic.twitter.com/IC2aAe8CVB
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 16, 2023
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There is a good reason why Pugh described his origin as "off the couch." Pugh had been on the practice squad for the Giants as of Oct. 4, but was only made part of the active roster on Saturday as part of a series of moves.
Due to several injuries to the Giants' offensive line, Pugh had to go from the couch to the practice squad to starting left guard against the Bills on "Sunday Night Football."
Heading into the game, starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and starting center John Michael Schmitz Jr. were ruled out. That meant backup left tackle Joshua Ezeudu was in as the starter at left tackle, backup left guard Ben Bredeson was in at center and Mark Glowinski, who has played at both guard positions during the season, was shifted to right guard to start.
For Pugh, that meant starting at left guard, but that changed quickly. Early in the first quarter, Ezeudu was injured and had to be helped off the field. That sent Pugh out to left tackle, Glowinski to left guard and Marcus McKethan to right guard.
While Pugh's intro might have said he was only on the couch, it appears he was quite busier than that. Fox Sports's Peter Schrager reported Pugh had been selling real estate and podcast before he was signed to the team's practice squad.
Pugh has plenty of experience coming in as a starting offensive lineman. A 10-year NFL veteran, he played in five games for the Cardinals as a starter in 2022. Before that, he had made 115 appearances (114 starts) in his previous four years as a guard with the Cardinals and in the five years prior as a guard and tackle for the Giants.
