PITTSBURGH — It did not take Ryan Mundy long to realize he wanted to play for the Giants, as he visited early in the free agency process and signed soon after.
“Sometimes in life, you have to get out of your comfort zone,’’ Mundy said. “You have to take a risk, and I felt like this was a good place for me. a good place for me to get out of my comfort zone a little bit and try something new, and so far it’s been great.”
It won’t take Mundy long to see what he left behind. He played his first four NFL seasons with the Steelers, appearing in all 64 games, sometimes as a reserve safety, mostly as a special teams ace. Lo and behold, Mundy’s first preseason game with the Giants comes tonight against his former team.
“It is kind of ironic that my first game as a non-Steeler happens to be against the Steelers,’’ said Mundy, a 2008 sixth-round pick out of West Virginia. “I’ve gone against those guys hundreds of times in practice, so I have an understanding of how they operate and their level of competitiveness and their physical capabilities. It’ll be a little weird standing on the other sideline, going into the visitor locker room, but once the lights come on and the whistle blows, I’ve got to play football.”
* First-round pick Justin Pugh (concussion) will not play, nor will rookie safety Cooper Taylor (hamstring). … Coach Tom Coughlin said he will try to get all four quarterbacks in the game, but that’s a difficult chore and if he does not succeed, Curtis Painter will likely be the odd-man out. … Wide receiver Hakeem Nicks has not practiced fully all camp and is not expected to play.
With Chris Snee not ready to play after coming off the physically unable to perform list last week and James Brewer sidelined with a concussion, the starting right guard spot tonight opens up for Brandon Mosley, a 2012 fourth-round pick from Auburn. He spent his entire rookie year on injured reserve after injuring his ankle last preseason. The start against the Steelers will be Mosley’s first with the Giants.
“Just anxious, really,’’ said Mosley, who got hurt last summer in his second preseason game. “Ready to get out there and do what I can do and prove to everybody what I can do.”
* There won’t be any sign in the game of former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who suffered what Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called “a significant shoulder injury’’ while taking a fall during Thursday’s practice. Burress, 35, will have surgery Monday to repair what’s reported to be a torn rotator cuff, a procedure that could not only end Burress’ season but also his NFL career, given his age and the mileage on his body.
* This is the Giants’ first preseason visit to Pittsburgh since 1992. … The Giants do not play any of their four preseason opponents during the regular season.