EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Tom Coughlin said Jason Pierre-Paul could make his 2015 debut Sunday against the Buccaneers in Tampa. But JPP must first prove in practice that he is up to the assignment.
"If he practices and continues to advance in the way that he has over the last few days that he's been with us," Coughlin said, "if we feel good where he is physically after he goes through (an increased practice workload), then that would be a decision that we would be confident in making."
Pierre-Paul reported to the Giants last week after missing the first portion of the season rehabbing near his home in Florida, where he suffered serious injuries in a Fourth of July fireworks accident. He took the field for the first time Wednesday, and worked with the scout team on Thursday.
This week, the Giants will place more demands on him to gauge his readiness for game action.
"We'll increase everything," Coughlin said. "We'll increase the number of snaps, We've had a couple sessions with him in pads when others are obviously not on the field, so we'll take a good, hard look at that. But we'll have two good practice days (Wednesday and Thursday) with him, and we'll push the envelope a little bit to test the conditioning level.
"We probably can't get, at this point of the season, a real physical practice, but we can do some
Pierre-Paul, of course, is one of the NFL's premier pass rushers.
"A person like that takes the game up of everybody on the defense," said safety Brandon Meriweather, a first-year Giant who has never played with JPP. "You have somebody who you know at any point can get a strip, sack, or could hit
the quarterback, make a tackle for a loss at any time in the game. Whenever you have a player like that, that impacts the game in so many ways, which gives other D-linemen one-on-ones, gives the quarterback the anticipation that he has to throw the ball a lot quicker than he does. I'm excited. I just can't wait to see him play."
*The Giants could also get help in the back of their defense if cornerback Prince Amukamara returns after missing a game with a partially torn pectoral muscle. Coughlin said Amukamara was one of "a bunch of guys who are getting MRIs." That group includes tight end Larry Donnell (neck) and running back Orleans Darkwa (back), who left the game in New Orleans.
*After a review, the Elias Sports Bureau changed Trumaine McBride's touchdown from a fumble return to an interception. It was determined that the intended receiver, Willie Snead, did not control the ball enough for it to be a catch.
McBride had a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was the Giants' longest interception return since Terrell Thomas had a 65-yarder vs. Oakland on Nov. 10, 2013, and the longest interception runback for a touchdown since Kevin Dockery's 96-yarder at Dallas on Oct. 23, 2006.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is no longer credited with a forced fumble.
The Giants have scored touchdowns on interception returns in back-to-back games; last week, Rodgers-Cromartie picked off a Matt Cassel pass and returned it 58 yards for a score vs. the Cowboys.
The scoring change leaves Brees with 39 completions and 505 yards (six fewer than he was originally credited with), still the most ever against the Giants. Snead now has six catches for 70 yards.
New Orleans had 608 total yards and 505 net passing yards, also a record vs. the Giants.
In addition, a postgame review corrected an error in the game's original play-by-play that changed the number of Saints' first downs from 36 to 35.
