Jason Pierre-Paul To Miss Remainder Of Regular Season After Surgery
The New York Giants will play the remainder of the regular season without the services of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul.
Pierre-Paul had surgery Wednesday to repair a sports hernia and an injured groin. The normal recovery time is six weeks, meaning he will be sidelined until the conference championships, assuming the Giants make it that far.
After the surgery, he tweeted, “Surgery went well and feeling way better already. God is good.”
Pierre-Paul injured his groin in Sunday’s 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had an MRI Tuesday and initially there was hope that his injury wouldn’t require surgery. This hope was short-lived.
The surgery was performed by Dr. William Meyers, a physician specializing in core muscle injuries working out of the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia.
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Pierre-Paul was in the midst of a productive comeback season after injuring his hand in a fireworks accident in July 2015. He played only eight games last season with 26 tackles and a sack after losing his right index finger and damaging several other fingers.
This season, he had 53 tackles, seven sacks, eight batted passes, and three forced fumbles in 12 games. The only defensive lineman in the NFL to play more snaps than Pierre-Paul (753) this season is his teammate Olivier Vernon (768).
Opponents average 19.8 points a game against the Giants, eighth in the NFL. Pierre-Paul leads the team in forced fumbles and batted passes. He is also second in sacks. The Giants have to find a way to play the remainder of their schedule without one of their defensive leaders.
“Like I said, it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough without him,” linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. “But next person up. We have to move on. It is what it is.”
That “next person up” may be Kerry Wynn. Wynn started seven games in 2015, including six when Pierre-Paul was sidelined. He had the second most snaps at the defensive end position in the NFL without recording a sack (554). In 2016, Wynn played 85 snaps, recording 0.5 sacks.
The 8-4 Giants currently occupy the first Wild Card position. Their remaining schedule includes consecutive home games against the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys (11-1) and NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (8-4) and consecutive road games against the Philadelphia Eagles (5-7) and Washington Redskins (6-5-1).
Pierre-Paul, 27, signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract in March.
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