EAST RUTHERFORD -- Weston Richburg has a message for all the Giants fans currently standing on their big blue ledges.

"It is the second week of the preseason," the center said, aiming to alleviate the semi-panic that has reached some corners after Saturday's woeful offensive performance in Buffalo.

"We were getting in some good work. We saw a different kind of defense, much different from the first week (against Miami). And we got some good looks, and got some good things on tape that we need to come in here and fix this week."

Things looked pretty bad for the first-team offensive line and tight ends against the Bills. Left guard Justin Pugh was out with a shoulder injury, but that was far from the only issue. With the starting five offensive linemen in the game, the Giants ran the ball seven times for 11 yards over six series (1.6 yards-per-carry). After the game, head coach Ben McAdoo bluntly called out the unit's lack of physicality.

"The first-string offense wasn't very good, to put it politely," McAdoo said. "In the first half, we had a lot of free runners in the point of attack, and they took it to us."

The performance was not very good, Pugh conceded. But like Richburg, he also said people need to keep the game, one where the Giants did little in the way of game planning, in perspective.

"Reading too much into a preseason game," Pugh said, "can lead you down a path you don't want to go down.

"We took a step back last week," added Pugh, who expects to play Saturday against the Jets. "But we're looking forward to going out there and having some good drives with the whole first-string offense out there, and putting some good things together. Putting better things on film than we did this past game."

Consistency is the key for the Giants, Pugh said. Both he and Richburg have said multiple times since last season their goal is for this Giants offensive line to resemble the ones of the Giants' not-so-removed glory days, where players like David Diehl, Shaun O'Hara, Rich Seubert and Chris Snee asserted their will on opposing defenses en route to a pair of Super Bowl titles.

Pugh feels this line - left tackle Ereck Flowers, right guard John Jerry and right tackle Marshall Newhouse round it out - has had flashes of being the physical group he envisions, both last season and on the opening drive of this year's preseason opener against the Dolphins. Now the next step is to produce on that level with consistency, Pugh said, so "that teams know when they come to play us, that they're in for a long day. ... We can set the tone. I want us to go out there and set the tone, be the more aggressive, more physical team."

Richburg concurs. "[The mantra] needs to be to finish," he said. "We want to finish each play, and from there finish each game. That consists of being physical, having a mean attitude and really getting after people."

The Giants did not do that against the Bills. But that does not mean they can't do it this season, so step away from the panic button, they say.

"It takes a lot to get the run fits together, and we still have two preseason games, two preseason weeks to get some good work in," Richburg said. "We saw some things on film that we are looking forward to going out and working on getting better."

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find our Giants coverage on Facebook.