Getty Jason Pierre-Paul hopes to dominate the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
Jason Pierre-Paul makes no bones about wanting to take down his former team Week 8 in the Meadowlands.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker will line up against the New York Giants for the third time since the Giants traded him in 2018. New York beat the Bucs both times, including a 2018 clash in the Meadowlands. He voiced strong words for his old team in Friday’s press conference, team staff reporter Carmen Vitali wrote via Twitter.
JPP: “This [is] my old team but we have to show them the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
Pierre-Paul had stronger words than that as The Athletic’s Greg Auman wrote on Twitter.
“I’m coming for their necks. They know that,” Jason Pierre-Paul said of Monday night at Giants. Still has love for his old team, but motivated for sure.
Sports Illustrated’s Patricia Traina wrote about Pierre-Paul’s drive to show the Giants what they lost. The Giants drafted Pierre-Paul in the first round from South Florida in 2010, and he became a key part of the team’s Super Bowl run in 2011 and beyond. Traina noted he led the team in sacks for four of his eight seasons with the Giants.
JPP 2020
Also known as JPP, Pierre-Paul leads the Buccaneers in sacks this season with 5.5 through seven games. He led the Bucs in sacks with 12.5 in 2018, but linebackers Shaquil Barrett’s 19.5-sack season eclipsed Pierre-Paul’s 8.5.
Pierre-Paul also maintained a sack streak of five games going back to last season, which lasted through this season’s Denver game in Week 3. He boasts other solid numbers in addition to the sacks this fall such as three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 21 tackles.
Earlier this season, Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud described Pierre-Paul as the pass rush tone-setter for the team. Barrett told Stroud that Pierre-Paul brings an unpredictability for opponents to deal with.
“He could use the power, he could power and come underneath, he could give you a little shake. It’s pretty hard to stop him,” Barrett said to Stroud. The length that he’s got makes the power really effective.”
The Trade
Despite Pierre-Paul’s success in New York, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman traded the linebacker in 2018, plus a fourth-round pick, to the Buccaneers for third and fourth-round picks. Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com wrote that the trade didn’t turn out well for the Giants. Rosenblatt added that Pierre-Paul didn’t like the deal.
Pierre-Paul still doesn’t as he alluded to in Friday’s press conference, NBC Sports’ Charean Williams wrote.
“It’s not that I’m trying to show them they made a mistake,” Pierre-Paul told reporters. “You know, it’s just the fact that, I know that I wasn’t washed up or finished up.”
The Giants’ mistake shined through in the trade results. The Giants found no draft bargain by trading Pierre-Paul, and it set them back, Rosenblatt wrote. B.J. Hill, the Giants’ third-rounder, became a role player in the defensive line rotation, Rosenblatt added. Fourth-round pick Kyle Lauletta made the quarterback depth chart as a rookie but got cut the following year.
New Look
Pierre-Paul and the Buccaneers will don a new look for Monday Night Football.
The Buccaneers will wear their new red jerseys and pewter pants for the first time after wearing white jerseys and pants most of the season. Per USA Today, the Buccaneers creatively announced the debut via Twitter. The Giants will wear 1980s throw-back uniforms.