Jason Pierre-Paul remains reclusive but could return to Giants before Week 1

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Pierre-Paul’s rehab from the injury is “progressing very well” and he’ll rejoin the Giants before the regular season begins. It’s even possible that the two-time Pro Bowl defensive end could play in the opener, although that will depend on the shape that he’s managed to stay in.

While Rapoport says that Pierre-Paul is working himself back into shape and cast-free, the Giants still haven’t had the opportunity to examine him and haven’t even had a look at his medical records, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.

Pierre-Paul has used social media sparingly since the accident, and joked about his injury over the weekend, but did his best to duck out of the spotlight when he made his first public appearance on Sunday. Despite letting everyone know on Instagram that he was heading to an event to hand out school supplies to elementary and middle school children, he used a body double to try and throw off the press, and a bad body double at that.

First, he ducked in a back entrance due to a Daily News reporter and photographer waiting out front along with a TV crew. Then either he or the organizers sent out a decoy JPP with a jacket over his head and a makeshift bandage on his hand and whisked him into a car in an attempt to throw the press off his scent. There was only one problem: Nobody was fooled, especially since the decoy had the bandage on the wrong hand.

Nice try.

His attempts to stay hidden are even more pointless given the fact that he’s already been photographed since the injury occurred.

For now, Pierre-Paul’s absence from the Giants can really just be treated like a holdout. The team used the franchise tag on him in March and he still hasn’t signed the tender, which would pay him $14.8 million in 2015. Until he does, he’s technically not under contract and can’t be placed on the non-football injury list, which could cut his pay for the first six weeks of the season.

If Pierre-Paul arrives in New York in shape and ready to go, there really isn’t too much catching up for him to do. Yes, he needs to get some familiarity with the language used in Steve Spagnuolo’s system now that he has taken over as the team’s defensive coordinator, but defensive ends typically have the easiest transition as long as the scheme doesn’t swap from 4-3 to 3-4, or vice versa, which isn’t the case for the Giants.

Defensive end hasn’t sustained too many injuries, but the addition of Pierre-Paul would certainly help stabilize a group that finished No. 29 in total defense in 2014.