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Justin Pugh played only 24 snaps against the Seattle Seahawks Week 7, leaving the game with a back injury. Coach Ben McAdoo said that Pugh, who has started game sat both left guard and right tackle this season, did not practice Monday when the New York Giants returned to work after their Week 8 bye.
“My back was locking up on me so I went in and tried to get it to calm down. I couldn’t get it to calm down in the Seattle game. It was bothering me going into it,” Pugh said. “So hopefully this week, it will be good. Having the week off was definitely helpful, so just go from there.”
Pugh said his back began bothering him in the Week 6 victory over the Denver Broncos.
“Going out there in the second half of the Seattle game, I just couldn’t get it to stay loose and I couldn’t move as well as I need to to be able to play that position,” Pugh said on Monday.
Pugh hopes to play Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, but said only that “we’re going to see how it goes this week.”
Casillas has seen both sides
Linebacker Jonathan Casillas has two Super Bowl rings, one each from his with the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots. He has also been part of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that went 4-12, losing its first eight games.
“Wins are hard to come by. I’ve heard that my rookie year and we were 13-0 when I looked up at the end of the year before we lost our first game. And then I’ve been a part of an 0-8 team. I understood the exact meaning of that term wins are hard to come by in the league,” Casillas said. “It’s just this year and we’ve been in there a couple times and we’re going to be in games. There’s nine games left. Percentages are all nine of them are going to be close. If not, eight of them are. We have to figure out a way to win more of those than we lose. Hopefully, we can win most of them.”
Sterling Shepard hoping to play vs. Rams
Wide receiver Sterling Shepard, who has not played since suffering an ankle injury Week 5 against the Los Angeles Chargers, practiced Monday and hopes to play sunday vs. the Rams.
“That’s what I’m hoping. It felt pretty good. I got out there and did some individual routes, and I felt pretty good,” he said.
McAdoo: Giants will “keep fighting”
Giants coach Ben McAdoo told WFAN’s Mike Francesa on Monday that the team will keep fighting “until they stick the knife in me.”
“It’s not that things aren’t fixable and things can’t be fixed,” McAdoo told WFAN’s Mike Francesa. “We have a lot of football left to play, and until they stick the knife in me, we’re going to keep fighting.”
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