JPP: ‘I’ll be back’ ... but not for Cowboys

JASON Pierre-Paul limped through the Giants’ locker room Tuesday afternoon, and all signs pointed to the defensive end missing at least Sunday night’s NFC East home showdown against the Cowboys.

“His presence will be missed out there,” linebacker Jonathan Casillas said.

Pierre-Paul, 27, visited sports hernia expert William Meyers in Philadelphia, according to a source. The initial diagnosis is that the defensive end does not have a sports hernia, and Pierre-Paul is hoping to rehab the injury and avoid surgery.

JPP, though, sent a message out on Snapchat and wasn't making any promises about getting back on the field. His Snapchat story featured a picture of him getting medical treatment before he says, “It’s all cool though. I'll be back ... hopefully.”

Losing Pierre-Paul for any amount of time would be significant. The star pass rusher had turned on the jets recently, recording 5.5 sacks combined in the two games leading up to last Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh.

Pierre-Paul went down injured late in the second quarter of the Giants’ 24-14 defeat to the Steelers. He was replaced in the second half by a rotation of undrafted free agent Romeo Okwara and third-year veteran Kerry Wynn. But the Giants’ second-half run defense without Pierre-Paul was “not up to our standards,” as coach Ben McAdoo said.

SLY ELI

Eli Manning had a quality dig planned for his first comment about Sunday’s rematch with the Cowboys (11-1), who have won 11 straight since their lone loss to the Giants in Week 1 in Dallas, 20-19. “It’s Dallas week. A big game for us. They’re obviously playing great football. They haven’t lost since the first game. I think I remember who beat them that game,” Manning said with a smirk.

— with Pat Leonard