Giants activate Jason Pierre-Paul; will play Sunday vs. Buccaneers
A little more than four months after the fireworks accident that left him without extensive damage to his right hand, including the loss of his index finger, Giants’ defenisve end Jason Pierre-Paul will make his 2015 debut on Sunday against the Buccaneers.
The team made the announcement on Saturday afternoon.
Pierre-Paul was designated as the Giants’ franchise player in March (a one-year contract for $14.8 million), and New York offered him a $60 million contract extension. But that deal was pulled after the player’s July 4 accident, and he did not speak to the team for weeks after his injury. Pierre-Paul traveled to the team facility in September, but the Giants sent him back to Florida to continue rehab.
He returned to the club late last month, and Pierre-Paul and the Giants agreed to an incentive-laden one-year deal that allows him to recoup much of the $14.8 million he lost out on by not getting the franchise tender.
The 2010 first-round draft pick has practiced all week, with Giants coach Tom Coughlin saying Pierre-Paul was in “outstanding physical condition” on Wednesday. Pierre-Paul said he no longer feels pain in his hand, and believes he can be the same player he was before his accident.
He will likely be wearing a custom-made glove; a photo of a glove he had been trying out was tweeted out this week.
Though sacks are not the only indication of a team’s pass-rushing success, the Giants have an NFL-low nine through eight games. Pierre-Paul totaled 12.5 last year. Pierre-Paul has 42 sacks through his first five seasons.
