JOIN THE CLUB
When Damontre Moore was handed a cell phone displaying photos of Giants teammate Jason PierrePaul back in South Florida — JPP’s damaged right hand wrapped up like a club — his reaction was subdued but sad.
“Seeing those pictures, that hurts us that our brother isn’t here,’’ Moore told The Post. “We’re just praying for him and hoping that he rehabs and gets here fast.’’
It is highly doubtful PierrePaul will get to training camp fast, and perhaps he will not get there at all. As he heals from serious wounds he suffered in a July 4 fireworks accident, JPP has kept his distance from the Giants, exchanging a text here and there, but not allowing anyone from the organization to see him or his damaged right hand.
PierrePaul had a right index finger amputated, came away with a fractured right thumb and burns that required skin grafts, but the full extent of the injury is shrouded in mystery.
“We don’t know how extensive the damage is,” coowner John Mara told reporters last week. “That’s the problem. I don’t know how many fingers he has.”
In the first pictures surfacing since the accident, PierrePaul is seen with his right arm in a black sling and his right hand heavily wrapped. There is no way to determine what the hand looks like beneath all the protection, but it is clear it is nowhere near functional at the moment.
“It’s just a picture,’’ said Moore, a thirdyear defensive end who will gain playing time and perhaps a starting job with PierrePaul out of commission. “It ain’t alarming. It’s the NFL, you see people week in and week out with hand injuries that play with clubs.’’
Moore said he played wearing a club while at Texas A&M.
“I had a small hairline fracture in my wrist and I had to have an arm cast from the middle of my forearm and they wrapped it up and you would have thought my fingers were broken,’’ Moore said. “People deal with those type of things all the time. He’s tremendously talented and some of the talent he possesses in one hand is way more talent than other people.’’
Jay Bromley, a secondyear defensive tackle, took a look at the pictures and was not surprised by what he saw.
“I don’t know what to think,’’ Bromley said. “Looks like a boxing glove. Hopefully everything’s all right and he’s healing fine.’’