JPP looks to stay with club

HE SPENT the first few months of the year haggling with the Giants over a long-term contract that never happened, then spent most of the summer AWOL after mangling his own right hand.

But now that all of that is over and Jason Pierre-Paul is back with the only NFL franchise he’s ever known, the boisterous defensive end has no interest in leaving, he said Wednesday.

“Of course, I always want to be here,” Pierre-Paul said. “This is the team that drafted me, and I would like to finish my career here. But we’ll see what’s at stake.”

There’s still plenty at stake. In three games since his return a month ago, Pierre-Paul still hasn’t recorded a sack, but he has helped revitalize a dormant pass rush and brought a new energy to a quiet locker room.

But he’s only guaranteed another five games. After that, he will become a free agent, unless the Giants do what they couldn’t do last offseason and ink him to a long-term deal. They could also slap the franchise tag on Pierre-Paul again, although that seems unlikely.

How the Giants handle PierrePaul’s future will hinge on his performance during this playoff push. But he believes he’s ready for a big finish.

On Wednesday, he saw even more reason for excitement: he planted his right hand in the ground when he lined up in a three-point stance in practice for the first time since his July accident. Throughout the last month, he’d only used his left hand, and as a natural right defensive end, that prevented him from properly angling his body toward the quarterback and offensive line.

“It made a big difference,” he said. “So I’m super-excited to see what I’m going to do Sunday against the New York Jets.”

Not bad for a player who showed up on the injury report for the first time since he made his season debut against the Bucs four weeks ago. Pierre-Paul had some pain in his right hand, according to the Giants, so he donned an extra-large club-like mitt for practice.

But he indicated that the protective covering didn’t hinder his ability to plant — and it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. A few weeks ago, Pierre-Paul talked of transitioning to a smaller glove, but he said Wednesday that he may play the rest of 2015 with the club. He’s grown comfortable with it.

“You never know what the club can do,” he joked.