Jason Pierre-Paul came, he showed his hand and he left.
“Keep going right where we are,’’ Tom Coughlin said Wednesday. “Nothing’s changed.’’
No change means Pierre-Paul is not part of this Giants team, at least not now. He wasn’t part of the team in the spring, when he stayed away and left his $14.8 million franchise tender unsigned. He stayed away in the summer after he suffered serious and permanent injuries to his right hand in a July 4 fireworks accident. He finally showed up Monday, allowing the Giants at long last to have their medical experts examine his injured hand.
And then Pierre-Paul left town.
“JPP was here for a couple of days,’’ Coughlin said. “He went through all the medical. He was in an outstanding frame of mind. Was not ready to play, returned to South Florida. Optimistic about going forward and feeling better and continuing to work towards being able to come back. So we’ll monitor that.’’
The Giants will monitor the situation from afar. Because Pierre-Paul is not close to returning to football — his right index finger was amputated and he has other lingering physical issues with the hand — there is no reason for him to hang around the team.
Pierre-Paul expressed optimism he will return better than ever, tweeting Wednesday afternoon: “My grind don’t stop! I will get better and get healthy 2 help my brothers out this year. Don’t be surprise when I return BESTING!”
Coughlin described Pierre-Paul as upbeat.
“The fact he came in, the way he did, Mr. Personality, was there and he felt good about himself and where he’d been,’’ Coughlin said. “He’s worked pretty hard. We actually saw a tape that showed him working. He’s done a lot of conditioning work.
“We’d like him all healed and ready to go, but he’s not.’’
And so, the Giants wait.
“We’ve taken this path and we’re on it and we’ll stay on it,’’ Coughlin said, “and hopefully at some point in time, Jason will be ready to play and get the green light. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll stay with where we are.’’
Teammates did not even get a chance to see Pierre-Paul during his quick visit. That was disappointing, some said, but there was no great anticipation he would be on the field with them Sunday against the Cowboys.
“No disrespect to JPP, but I don’t know if a lot of guys put a lot of eggs in that basket, I don’t know if a lot of guys were expecting him to come back and making room for him in like our game plan,’’ cornerback Prince Amukamara said.
Cullen Jenkins said: “No, it’s not a letdown. We know there’s a lot going on. Just like we said back in camp: We got to hold it down until we can get him back.’’
