Captain Fear
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- Mar 20, 2019
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Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said in June that Jason Pierre-Paul was at least five or six months away from returning from the neck injury he suffered in a car accident. Despite some recent speculation that Pierre-Paul could be back in October, the previous time frame has not improved.
The earliest Pierre-Paul could return is November, Jenna Laine of ESPN reports. That means he’s still on the 5-6 month timeline Arians mentioned in June.
Pierre-Paul led the Buccaneers in sacks last year, and losing him for at least half the season is a significant blow to their defense. They’ll be counting on Carl Nassib, Shaq Barrett and Noah Spence to replace Pierre-Paul’s production. That won’t be easy; Pierre-Paul had 12.5 sacks last year while Nassib had 6.5, Barrett had 3.0 and Spence had none.
This will be the second season of Pierre-Paul’s career that he’s missed significant time after an offseason accident. In 2015 he missed half the season after losing part of his hand in a Fourth of July fireworks accident.