Giants training camp fight: Justin Pugh's "fighter's mentality" shows up

New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin wasn't happy about the training camp fight Justin Pugh and Damontre Moore engaged in during Monday's practice. Pugh, who was lined up at left tackle with Ereck Flowers sidelined by a hip flexor, agreed with his coach.

"He's right, he's right," Pugh said. "It's something that boils up when all offseason you can't put pads on and hit somebody. It's fun, you know. Like I said, I'm going to bring a fighter's mentality out there. Obviously, fighting, someone could get hurt, and that's something I definitely have to appreciate when coach says that. But at the same time, I'd rather coach yell at me for fighting someone than yell at me for not fighting someone. You know what I mean?"

Pugh spent time working out at Jay Glazer's MMA training center during the offseason. Maybe he just wanted to show off his skills. At least neither he nor Moore got hurt.

As for spending time at left tackle in Flowers' absence, Pugh didn't mind returning briefly to his collegiate position.

"I told the Giants when they drafted me that I can play all five positions," Pugh said. "This morning, they came in and said, ‘You're playing left tackle,' and that's what it is. I think you can look at David Diehl who did the same thing and won the Super Bowl. So you have to be versatile, you have to be able to step up when your number is called and play whatever position. The biggest thing is working as a unit, having all five guys on the same page. If I get reps at left tackle today, Adam Gettis gets reps at left guard and we get to build that camaraderie. You know things are going to pop up, things are going to happen and you're going to need guys to step up, and that's what happened."