New York Giants

Giants get good news, and bad news on the offensive line

Published Dec. 2, 2015 3:45 p.m. ET

foxsports

In the New York Giants' Week 12 loss to the Washington Redskins, they were forced to play with three backups along the offensive line at left guard, center and right guard. The Giants returned to practice on Wednesday, and two of those three interior linemen suited up. However, right tackle Marshall Newhouse was a new addition to the injury report.

Left guard Justin Pugh (concussion) and center Weston Richburg (ankle) missed Week 12, but they returned to limited practice on Wednesday. Pugh was still in the NFL's concussion protocol, but he cleared that hurdle today.

Newhouse has started every game this season, but a back issue popped up and it is keeping him out of practice. When the Giants lost right guard Geoff Schwartz (injured reserve) during the game in Week 12, they shuffled in rookie Bobby Hart into the lineup. Head coach Tom Coughlin talked about the status of the offensive line for Week 13.

“(Our) hope is that they both (Richburg and Pugh) make it,” Coughlin said, per Giants.com. “Whether that’s realistic, I’ll let you know. Today, I think, hopefully Pugh will be able to go and feel better after practicing, and then he can increase the workload the next day. And we’ll do what we have to do on the right side. With Newhouse missing today, Hart will be in there, have an opportunity there. We’ll see how Newhouse does tomorrow.”

The Giants need to get healthy for this pivotal matchup against the Jets on Sunday, who boast one of the NFL's strongest defensive lines. As of now, the only definite starters for Week 13 seem to be left tackle Ereck Flowers and offensive guard John Jerry.