Giants offensive line coach addresses unit’s struggles, pressure and seeing some progress

Bobby Johnson: 'They’ve made progress in ways maybe the average person hasn’t seen'

10/13/2023, 6:30 PM

The Giants spent three draft picks on offensive linemen a season ago, selecting tackle Evan Neal with the seventh overall pick before grabbing tackle Joshua Ezeudu in the third round and guard Marcus McKethan in the fifth round, but haven't seen a great return on that investment.

And amid all of the injuries to Big Blue’s O-line this season – including to 2020 first-round pick tackle Andrew Thomas and this year's second-round pick center John Michael Schmitz – the struggles of the entire unit and the two tackles drafted last year, in particular, have been a constant point of frustration, especially as the offense’s performance has floundered in recent weeks.

Giants offensive line coach Bobby Johnson was asked about why certain offensive linemen haven’t appeared to make a big second-year leap.

“I think there’s a lot of circumstances that go into it. You’re talking about ‘OK, well why hasn’t their performance gone up?’ Well, there’s other injuries around them, there’s moving of pieces and there’s no excuses, there’s just a lot of circumstances that go into it, it’s not happening in a vacuum,” he said, before shrugging his shoulders.

“So, they’ve made progress in ways maybe the average person hasn’t seen,” Johnson continued. “But I see a lot of growth in them from being a professional in their preparation and in their mindsets in trying to improve their craft, in their being a linemate and a brother and a teammate, so I see improvement.

“Obviously, we gotta put that improvement on the field and I understand the question.”

On the field, Johnson and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka both said that addressing the communication breakdowns on the offensive line that have been leading to sacks and negative plays has been a top priority, especially during this week of practice.

“Those are things that we are really tough on ourselves on and so we got to make sure that we tighten up that communication, tighten up our responsibilities, our fundamentals,” Kafka said on Thursday. “....So, we evaluate that hard and we go through the week and we study, we prep and we look at all those things and see how we can improve in that area.”

When it comes to the struggles of the offense and offensive line specifically, Kafka said that with football “it's really never one person or one group.”

“It’s an 11-man operation,” he said. “All the guys have got to be working at the same level of execution and we've all got to operate and execute better.”

But with the line struggling, the O-line coach addressed the amount of pressure he felt landing on his shoulders and spoke indirectly about his job security.

“I always put pressure on myself,” he said. “Now if you’re asking me if I feel pressure from other people? I put way more pressure on myself to not even pay attention to the other stuff. Has anybody said anything to me directly? My job is to get the guys to play to a certain level, they have not played at that level.

“So, yes I feel pressure. Not by any outside measures,” he said before pausing to shrug again, “I went home the other day and my wife booed me. That’s enough pressure.”

Johnson added that he doesn’t worry about what people say and he has pride in what he does.

“Nobody’s come to me and said, ‘Hey, x, y and z.’ I already put pressure on myself because I’m a pro,” he said. “... We all put pressure on ourselves and if you hold yourself to a high standard, the pressure you put on yourself should be way greater than the pressure anybody else can put on you.

“And that’s how I handle myself and I’m gonna handle myself that way until somebody tells me to do differently."

The return of Justin Pugh

Pugh, who Big Blue made the 19th overall selection in the 2013 NFL Draft, recently rejoined the organization after spending five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals signing to the practice squad.

And the 33-year-old guard could find himself into the lineup Sunday against the Buffalo Bills with Thomas, Peart and Schmitz already ruled out and Neal and Shane Lemieux questionable.

But the Giants staff has liked what they’ve seen so far from the veteran.

“Justin has done a nice job stepping in here in the last week or so and trying to get familiarity as much as he can with the offense,” Kafka said.

“He's a good worker,” he added. “I know he's had a little bit of a past here, so he has some familiarity with the organization, he's been great to talk with and one of those veteran guys that you look at that has played in some games.”

Johnson liked what Pugh has brought to the Giants’ offensive line room, but indicated more would need to be seen from the practice field Friday.

“He’s been a great addition to the room,” the O-line coach said. “I like the way he’s handled himself in the room. He’s gelled in the room, he’s really kinda just joined right in. I’ve seen him come along on the practice field. He’s getting better each day… I like the way he’s progressing that’s the best I can tell you right now.”

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