Giants take big hit: Pierre-Paul out
Dominant end lost for rest of regular season after hernia surgery
The New York Giants won’t be able to replace defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul in the final four games of the regular season. The 27-year-old just does too much for one guy to step in. He stops the run.
Pierre-Paul pressures the quarterback. He also has a unique ability to make plays in situations when he seemingly was out of position.
The Giants (8-4) are going to be missing that talent for the rest of the regular season with news that Pierre-Paul had surgery Wednesday to repair a sports hernia.
The prognosis is for him to be out four to six weeks, which means a season in which he was in the running for Comeback Player of the Year will be over before he recovers.
Pierre-Paul was injured in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. He was evaluated by team doctors Monday, and Tuesday went to Philadelphia to see surgeon William C. Meyers — a specialist in core muscle injuries.
Pierre-Paul tweeted Wednesday that he was feeling well after the surgery.
Three days after complaining n about the work of referee Terry McAulay and his crew in New York’s loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh, Odell Beckham Jr. went off again.
Beckham, who seemed to be grabbed around the waist a few times before passes reached him, said “everyone knows what’s going on on the field. Everyone can see it. Stevie Wonder can see it. It just is what it is. You can’t do anything about it. There’s no point. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. It’s always a lose-lose situation.”
Panthers: Carolina middle linebacker Luke Kuechly has returned to the practice field for the first time since suffering a frightening concussion in the team’s Nov. 17 win against the New Orleans Saints.
The 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year missed the last two games while in the league’s concussion protocol and his status for Sunday’s game against San Diego is still unclear.
Panthers coach Ron n Rivera said he benched reigning league MVP Cam Newton on Sunday night because he didn’t want “chaos” setting in with his football team.
“I am going to address this situation one last time — I made a decision based on rules. I treat everybody the same,” Rivera said in a stern statement. “The reason you do it, especially when you are having a tough season, is because chaos can consume your football team. The idea was to do the right thing, treat everybody the same. I have done it before where I have had to treat people the same, and that’s all I have done.”
Rivera kept the sixthyear quarterback out for one series against the Seahawks because Newton violated a team rule by not wearing a tie on the team flight to Seattle. He wore a turtleneck instead.
Vikings: Neither the Minnesota Vikings nor Adrian Peterson have been willing publicly to put a timetable on his potential return to the field nearly three months after he tore the meniscus in his right knee.
Peterson made two points clear, though, in his first comments to reporters since he got hurt. He is trying to get in position to return this year, but if the Vikings are eliminated from postseason contention he wouldn’t come back and risk re-injury.
Vikings coach Mike n Zimmer has received further clearance to travel with the team this weekend, following surgery to repair a detached retina.
Jets: Bryce Petty went from roster bubble to starting quarterback in a matter of four months.
The second-year player out of Baylor was no lock to make the Jets out of training camp, when he was competing for the No. 3 job and the team.
“I’m not supposed to be here, and I know that,” Petty said. “So, I don’t take this for granted.”
Petty will make his second NFL start Sunday at San Francisco.
Bears: Vic Fangio denied a report saying he might be out after the season because of philosophical differences with Bears coach John Fox.
Washington: Left tackle Trent Williams is back after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.