Jason Pierre-Paul reported to the facility of the New York Giants on Monday and hopes the team doctors will clear him to return to the field, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Jason Pierre-Paul meets with Giants on Monday
Pierre-Paul arrived at the Giants’ facility on Monday for a physical to determine if he’s ready to return to the field.
The arrival of Pierre-Paul on Monday was first reported by Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, but was expected to happen last week, before the team's Week 7 game against the Dallas Cowboys. The team didn't seem to have much knowledge of when Pierre-Paul would show up at the facility, and less than an hour before his arrival was reported by Cole, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said it was possible that the defensive end could show up this week.
Shortly after his reported arrival, Pierre-Paul sent a brief tweet that was his first in more than three weeks:
God is good.
— iamjasonpierrepaul (@UDWJPP) October 26, 2015 The Giants assigned the franchise tag to Pierre-Paul in March, but he never signed it before a fireworks accident on the Fourth of July caused severe damage to his hand. One finger on Pierre-Paul’s right hand was amputated and he lost a portion of his thumb.
Pierre-Paul met with the Giants in September, but the team determined at the time that he wasn’t healthy enough to return from the hand injury. Coughlin told reporters that determining Pierre-Paul’s health will be the first priority upon his arrival:
Coughlin said JPP's situation "will start with the medical." No decisions can be made until Giants doctors determine if he is able to play.
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoNYDN) October 26, 2015 Pierre-Paul has just over three weeks to sign his franchise tender with the Giants before a Nov. 17 deadline. If he doesn’t, he would be ineligible to play for the remainder of the year.
The two-time Pro Bowler can sign the tender at any time, but if he does so before the team has determined him healthy enough to play, he runs the risk of the Giants placing him on the non-football injury and costing him a large chunk of his contract. According to Kimberly Jones of NFL Network, the team hopes that a contract with Pierre-Paul would include incentives for playtime and production.
A first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, Pierre-Paul recorded just 4.5 sacks as a rookie before breaking out with 16.5 sacks in 2011. After just 8.5 sacks in the next two years combined, Pierre-Paul tallied 12.5 sacks in 2014 before receiving the franchise tag.
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