Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul will not undergo surgery on his fractured vertebra following a car accident last week, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
While it was originally announced that Pierre-Paul could miss the entire 2019 campaign as a result of the injury, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians recently said that the hope is for the pass rusher to get on the field at some point this coming season.
Pierre-Paul is coming off of a 2018 campaign in which he racked up 58 tackles, 12.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in his first year with Tampa Bay after coming over in a trade with the New York Giants last offseason.
The 30-year-old, who played his collegiate football at the University of South Florida, was originally selected by the Giants in the first round (15th pick overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.
He played in all 16 games during his rookie season and showed promise, totaling 22 tackles, 4.5 sacks, a couple of forced fumbles, a pair of fumble recoveries and six passes defended.
Then, in his second season, Pierre-Paul broke out in a major way, tallying 93 tackles, 16.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and seven passes defended en route to a Pro Bowl appearance and a First-Team All-Pro selection. Most importantly, Pierre-Paul helped lead the Giants to a Super Bowl title.
Pierre-Paul spent the first eight years of his career in New York, making a couple of Pro Bowls and going through a traumatic event during the summer of 2015 in which he lost his right index finger in a fireworks accident.
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