Jason Pierre-Paul's advice to Jon Beason: Be 100 percent
Giants offensive linebacker Jon Beason leaves the field after the team's 27-13 win against the Green Bay Packers in an NFL football game at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 17, 2013. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Jon Beason is hoping to be back on the field for the Giants' regular-season opener Sept. 8. Last year, Jason Pierre-Paul was in that role of trying to reconcile an offseason injury with an artificial deadline.
"Me personally, I wasn't ready," Pierre-Paul said of returning to the field for the first game in 2013 after back surgery and missing all of training camp and most of the preseason. "I wasn't ready. But I felt like I needed to be out there because I'm one of those guys who is a factor to the team. With me being gone, it's a big difference. Which it was."
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Jon Beason is hoping to be back on the field for the Giants' regular-season opener Sept. 8. Last year, Jason Pierre-Paul was in that role of trying to reconcile an offseason injury with an artificial deadline.
"Me personally, I wasn't ready," Pierre-Paul said of returning to the field for the first game in 2013 after back surgery and missing all of training camp and most of the preseason. "I wasn't ready. But I felt like I needed to be out there because I'm one of those guys who is a factor to the team. With me being gone, it's a big difference. Which it was."
Pierre-Paul wound up having the most disappointing season of his career. He never regained his health, never looked comfortable, and hardly ever showed being the dominant defensive player he thought he should have been.
So, does Pierre-Paul have any advice for Beason, whose injury to his foot will force him to miss most of the preseason?
"Honestly all I can tell Jon, and he knows too, is don't come out there if you're not fully healthy," Pierre-Paul said. "We'd rather have you at 100 percent than 50 percent. Honestly, when you're injured, you're liable to injure something else. Which I did. When you are 100 percent and ready to go you're not worried about this, you're not holding back or nothing. He knows, I know he knows. He's not going to come out there until he's healthy."