New York Giants Training Camp News: Jason Pierre-Paul's Absence Disappoints Team Owner John Mara
Jason Pierre-Paul's absence in the training camp as well as his refusal to inform the Giants about the real status of his health have "disappointed" team co-owner John Mara.
The Giants' defensive end suffered a hand injury over a fireworks incident on July 4 and is undergoing rehabilitation near his Florida residence without the assistance of the team, according to ESPN.com, citing a source knowledgeable of the situation.
The sports site noted that the defensive end might only appear in the Giants' camp when he is already fit to play or when "the Giants work out some guarantees about his 2015 salary."
Nevertheless, Mara was still expecting JPP to at least show up or reach out to them.
"I think this would be the best place for him to be for a number of reasons. He would have the opportunity to learn the new defense, but more importantly, we have the best training staff in the league here," Mara said.
The team owner also wants to know JPP's exact condition. He said he only gets updates from the media and until he hears directly from the defensive end, nothing is certain.
Several reports have claimed that JPP had his right index finger amputated and thumb fractured as a result of the Fourth of July fireworks incident.
JPP ignoring team's help?
Mara told the New York Post that after the accident, he reached out to JPP via text message, to which the athlete replied that he was "going to be fine." But when Ronnie Barnes, the team's highly-esteemed senior vice president of medical services, and special assistant, former Giants linebacker Jessie Armstead, flew to Miami to visit the defensive end, they were barred from seeing him.
"The fact that they went down there and hung around for two days and were not allowed to see him was very disappointing to me," Mara told the Post.
Piere-Paul's absence has also worried his teammates.
"It hit me today - we're going into camp without our cornerstone guy. It's almost as if we were going into camp without (quarterback) Eli (Manning)," Prince Amukara said, as quoted by ESPN.
The 26-year-old defenseman tallied 12.5 sacks and 24 assisted tackles last season. Pierre-Paul was offered by the Giants a franchise tender worth $14.81 million in March.
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