New York Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul Expects to Play Early on in the 2015 Regular Season

Jason Pierre-Paul was involved in a very dangerous July 4th accident and ended up losing a finger because of it. His status for the 2015 regular season has been unclear, but it sounds like he is nearing a return to the field. According to a report from Dan Graziano, Pierre-Paul expects to return to the New York Giants soon and is hoping to play early on during the 2015 regular season.

This is big news for the Giants, as they need all of the pass rushing help that they can get in a very tough NFC East division. Putting pressure on Tony Romo and Sam Bradford will go a long ways towards contending with those two teams, and Kirk Cousins is known for making mistakes under pressure as well.

During the 2014 season, Pierre-Paul was his dominant self. He recorded 77 tackles, 12.5 sacks and three forces fumbles on the season and was the primary leader for the Giants' defense. Simply thinking about the possibility of him missing extended time this season is a depressing thought for New York, but that doesn't appear to be a worry at this point in time.

At just 26 years old, Pierre-Paul is still in the prime of his career and was expected to have yet another monstrous season before the injury occurred.

Throughout his five-year career with the Giants, Pierre-Paul has been extremely impressive from a statistics standpoint. He has recorded 286 total tackles, 42 sacks, eight forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and two interceptions. New York's defense has been taken to a new level with him on the field and wouldn't be even close to the same if he hadn't been on the roster.

Looking ahead at the 2015 NFL season, it isn't expected that the Giants will be contenders in the NFC. They could surprise some people if they can get a few players to step up on both sides of the football, and getting Pierre-Paul back would be a huge step in the right direction.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to keep an eye on what happens over the next couple weeks. Preseason is almost over and the regular season is set to get underway, which means that Pierre-Paul will have to get back with the Giants and into game shape in the next few weeks to get back early on in the year. He is more than capable of doing just that, and hopefully he can come back strong and have a quality season.