Pierre-Paul becoming special on defense, too

Jason Pierre-Paul doesn't have an extensive football background, having begun playing during his senior year of high school. But don't call the 21-year-old naive to the harsh realities of the sport. He knows a backup is always one injury away from moving up the depth chart.

That was the mind-set the Giants' first-round pick took when he started his rookie season as a special-teams player, and in recent weeks, it's helped him make the transition to a greater role in place of defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who is out for the season with a neck injury.

"It's football, man, so anybody can go down at any minute," Pierre-Paul said yesterday. "You've got to be ready."

The Giants have been careful about not asking Pierre-Paul to do too much, not wanting to overload him or jeopardize just how much he has embraced his role as a self-described "beast" on special teams.

But it's noteworthy that Pierre-Paul's time on the field on defense has grown considerably in recent weeks, especially two weeks ago in Dallas. And that's a trend that figures to continue against the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday, considering the praise he's been receiving from the coaching staff.

"I thought he had some really good rushes in the Dallas game," defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said yesterday. "We have a technique called the long arm, and he long-armed the right tackle from Dallas real well on a [teammate's] sack, and he was just an arm length's away from making that sack."

Overall, Pierre-Paul's defensive statistics thus far are modest. The Giants coaches' stats given to the media credit him with six tackles (one solo); two of those tackles resulted in a loss of yardage. He's also had six quarterback hurries and registered one hit on a quarterback.

But according to Fewell, no statistic can properly illustrate just how seamless Pierre-Paul's transition has been since he replaced Kiwanuka in a pass rush that's feasted on opposing quarterbacks.

"What you have to understand about Jason is he hadn't played a lot of football before, you know, and now he's really playing good football for us. He just doesn't have the stats to prove it right now," Fewell said. "But when you look at the coaches' tape, he's doing good things every week."

When the Giants placed Kiwanuka on injured reserve last week, officially ending his season, defensive captain Justin Tuck approached Pierre-Paul - they locker next to each other at the practice facility - for a brief chat about his growing importance to the team. The rookie said the message was received.

"The whole team,'' he said, "is counting on me to step up."

One reason Pierre-Paul likes special teams so much is because the strategy often is not as important as sheer will and athleticism. But with his defensive role increasing, so has the importance of knowing all the ins-and-outs of the defensive playbook.

That thought might have been a little overwhelming to the football neophyte back in training camp, but not anymore, he said. "It's nothing I can't do," he said. "Learning the plays is kind of difficult, but by the end of the week, you should know it."

And that's exactly what the Giants' coaching staff wants to hear. "If we can just keep him moving in the right direction," Fewell said, "he's going to be a hell of a football player."