Jason Pierre-Paul back at practice for Tampa Bay Buccaneers
By Cory Kinnan
A bizarre car accident has kept pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul off of the field for the Buccaneers, but after six weeks it looks like he is ready for action.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are about to get another defensive weapon back after the bye week as defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has returned to practice. The word on the street is that Pierre-Paul is on pace to see the field against the Tennessee Titans after the Bucs come back from their week off.
This offseason, Pierre-Paul was involved in a car accident where he suffered a broken vertebrae in his neck and was placed on injured reserve by the Bucs. Opting not to have surgery, JPP set his sights on returning for the pewter and red in 2019; that time has now come for the Pro Bowl pass rusher.
After the release of punt returner/wide receiver Bobo Wilson and linebacker Devante Bond, it was figured one of the roster spots would go to JPP as he is set to come off of injured reserve. It has been confirmed that Pierre-Paul is back at practice, leaving one roster spot still open for the Bucs to fill.
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These next ten games will be huge for Pierre-Paul, who is no longer under contract past this 2019 season after restructuring his deal with the Bucs. He is set to make a base salary of $5 million this year now, but can earn back up to his $10 million amount that he was expecting in incentives; this is also an opportunity for the veteran pass rusher to prove to another team that he is worth another contract.
Leading the team in sacks a year ago for the pewter and red, getting JPP back to pair with Shaq Barrett (tied for the league lead in sacks this year) could give the Bucs a dynamic duo off the edge. It remains to be seen how the Buccaneers will split his snaps with Carl Nassib, who is currently starting in JPP’s absence.
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Outside of Barrett’s nine sacks on the season, the Bucs only have four more from the rest of the team combined; this ranks them as the 18th team in the league in the sack category. Getting a guy with multiple double-digit sack seasons in his career like Jason Pierre-Paul back should only serve to help this problem.