Giants coach Tom Coughlin takes wait-and-see attitude on Jason Pierre-Paul
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jason Pierre-Paul hasn’t set foot in the New York Giants facility, but the franchise is preparing on how it will handle his return.
And depending on what condition he arrives in, after suffering a Fourth of July fireworks accident that reportedly blew off one of his fingers, that could even mean his suiting up in Sunday night’s opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Maybe he comes in and is in great shape and the doctors clear him right away, he practices two days and he goes in and plays (Sunday),” head coach Tom Coughlin said Monday. “I don’t know. I’m not sure about anything. But I’m not going to rule it out, either.”
For a coach who doesn’t typically deal in hypotheticals, that’s a pretty strong statement.
NFL Network reported that Pierre-Paul is expected to return to the team facility Monday and will take a physical with the team training staff to determine his status moving forward.
Pierre-Paul has been absent from the team facility since he suffered the injury, and has been rehabbing and working out in South Florida, his offseason home. Part of his absence was the result of a contract dispute, after Pierre-Paul refused to sign the franchise tag the team placed on him. If he is cleared to play, Pierre-Paul could sign the $14.8 million tender, though one potential hang up could be the team’s option to place him on the non-football injury list, which would prevent him from being paid for the first six games of the season.
The two sides could potentially work around that by coming to some sort of agreement that prevents him from landing on the list.
Comments from Coughlin and Giants players signaled the obvious: They can use the help. Pierre-Paul, 26, is still New York’s best pass rusher, even with whatever limitations he may have from his injury.
“We need a healthy Jason Pierre-Paul, certainly,” Coughlin said. “He’s a guy that would add to our team, provided that he’s healthy and can play to the level that he has played at.”
After a slow start in 2014, Pierre-Paul came on strong with nine sacks in the final five games of the season. He finished last year with 12.5 total sacks, but the sixth-year defensive end is still searching for his 2011 form when he amassed 16.5 sacks before back and shoulder injuries derailed him in the past three years.
Coughlin stressed that Pierre-Paul has “a lot to catch up on” since the Giants are implementing a new defensive scheme under coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. To help combat that, however, Pierre-Paul has had access to his team-issued iPad that contains New York’s defensive playbook.
But the message from New York’s first day of regular-season practice was clear: As long as Pierre-Paul is healthy enough and can get some time on the practice field, he’ll be expected to play. “When JPP comes in,” cornerback Prince Amukamara said, “we instantly become better.”