Coughlin on Pierre-Paul's return: 'He hasn't told me'
Count New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin among those who remain in the dark about when Jason Pierre-Paul will make his long-awaited return to the team.
Reports on Monday indicated that the Giants defensive lineman, purportedly still recovering from the traumatic hand injuries suffered during a Fourth of July fireworks accident, could soon be back with the team. According to three sources familiar with the situation, Pierre-Paul’s rehab is “progressing very well,” per a report from Ian Rapoport, and could very well be back with the team before Week 1 of the regular season.
While all that is well and good, Coughlin seems to be taking the stance that he’ll believe it when he sees it when it comes to Pierre-Paul’s return. And given how bizarrely things have gone, the coach’s stance is pretty understandable.
“I don’t know anything about that. He hasn’t told me,” the coach said, according to a tweet from Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
Coughlin previously deemed the entire debacle a “fiasco,” as Pierre-Paul has been mostly incommunicado with the team outside of a few discussions with management, coaches and a couple of teammates, something that has frustrated team owner John Mara to no end.
Pierre-Paul’s antics over the weekend, when he used a ridiculous decoy to duck media at a charity event and also cracked a joke on Twitter about his amputated index finger, also adds to the strangeness of the entire situation.
The next few weeks, though, will go a long way in determining exactly how the entire situation ultimately plays out after a prolonged and protracted process. Pierre-Paul has yet to sign his $14.8 million franchise tender and it hasn’t been pulled by the team, either.
Still, the fact that Pierre-Paul surprisingly has not been examined by the Giants at this late stage, nor has he reportedly provided the team with any medical records, certainly is troubling, to say the least. This is probably why Coughlin prefers to take a wait-and-see approach about his player’s supposed return.
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