Add Jason Pierre-Paul to the List of Injured Giants

Back spasms will keep JPP out of Friday's game

If you're the sort of person who believes in karma, Jason Pierre-Paul's back spasms are probably music to your ears.

Pierre-Paul is, of course, the player who threw cornerback Prince Amukamara into an ice cold tub in a video that went viral thanks to punter Steve Weatherford. We won't rehash the whole debate about whether or not this is hazing, because, really, the Giants' scrambling to defend themselves when the video went public says everything that needs to be said about the appropriateness of the behavior.

While we assume the defensive end's back spasms weren't a direct result of his decision to show his deep abiding love, in the words of Justin Tuck, for Amukamara by risking injury to a player the Giants need at cornerback, the result is the same for the Giants. Pierre-Paul won't be in the lineup against the Bears on Friday night.

All by itself, that's not a huge deal for a player already assured of his spot and in full command of the team's scheme as long as the injury isn't a long-term deal. Tom Coughlin assured everyone that wasn't the case on Wednesday.

"It'll end up being precautionary based on what we had to do today by not letting him work," Coughlin said. "He would have practiced and played, but the medical people kind of said this would be the best way to go so that we ensure going forward he’ll be OK."

The Giants should hope that's the case because a Pierre-Paul absence would be the tipping point for a Giants defense already dealing with injuries all over the place. Michael Boley and Chris Canty, two underrated reasons for the team's Super Bowl run, haven't really practiced at all this offseason and no one knows when Terrell Thomas might be back at cornerback.

Surviving those absences is something that the Giants could pull off, but only if they have Pierre-Paul up front. He almost singlehandedly won the game in Dallas that made everything possible for the Giants last season and he's clearly the most talented player on the defensive side of the ball.

After Eli Manning, there's no player the Giants can afford to lose less than Pierre-Paul. So it seems like a good time for him to grow up, stop throwing players into tubs and make sure that he's as healthy as possible for the parts of his job that should actually be consuming him this time of year.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.

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