The Giants said this week that they will be evaluating the season in its entirety before making any calls about the futures of coach Ben McAdoo, General Manager Jerry Reese or anyone else.
That suggests that jobs can be saved by a strong finish after a 1-8 start that has many Giants fans asking for heads to roll, but any effort to kick off that strong finish will reportedly start without the help of their best offensive lineman.
Justin Pugh, who moved from left guard to right tackle recently, left last Sunday’s game with a back injury and said afterward that he needs time for it to heal. McAdoo all but ruled him out for the Chiefs this week and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Pugh’s injury could keep him out for multiple weeks, which could put the rest of the season into play given the point we’re at in the calendar.
Pugh was replaced by Bobby Hart, who was the team’s previous starter at right tackle and lost the job because he was overmatched in the early weeks of the season. That won’t do much for Eli Manning’s sense of security or for the Giants’ chances of stringing together enough wins to change the widely-held expectation of big changes to come in January.