Tom Coughlin thinks Jason Pierre-Paul's injuries are more severe than reported

In his first public comments about Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said he has no idea when Pierre-Paul might show up at the team's training camp, described the player's refusal to allow the team to participate in his recovery as a "fiasco," and suggested that JPP is receiving poor advice from his management.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated's MMQB.com, Coughlin said he believes the silence from Pierre-Paul makes him fear that the injury is more severe than even the gory details that have been reported.

"I don't know what they think they are hiding," Coughlin said. "It only makes us, me personally, think the worst."

It's been nearly a month since the Giants defensive end injured his right hand in a fireworks mishap on July 4. Coughlin texted him the following day, offering any assistance that he and the Giants could provide.

He has yet to hear back.

Coughlin said he first learned of the injury on July 5 from general manager Jerry Reese. That's when he sent the text to JPP that read simply: "How can I help you?" He has yet to receive a response.

"I want to help. I want to be there for him," Coughlin said. "But he's decided that he doesn't want our help. He thinks that something will come of it. But, all I care about, all any of us care about, the whole organization, is the well-being of the kid."

Coughlin is not alone in the mystery. He said that defensive line coach Robert Nunn has spoken to Pierre-Paul a few times since the accident, and others have communicated via text, but most of the conversations between JPP and those associated with the team have been vague.

"There has been very little information even to this point in time," Coughlin said. "Everybody in this building is concerned with him and his welfare. Even to the point where this fiasco, when Ronnie [Barnes] goes down there and Jessie [Armstead] goes down there, and he won't see them — these are the people he has depended on all the time he has been there. I don't know what he thought he was going to accomplish by not allowing them to be there to assist, to help, whatever needed to be done."

"I thought that was a really poor move by them, by his people," he said.

Pierre-Paul was absent from the team's spring workouts and seems to be rehabbing his hand on his own. It was expected that he would sign the one-year, $14.8-million franchise tender shortly after the mid-July deadline to reach a long-term agreement passed. He has not. And, not surprisingly, the Giants would like to assess his hand injury before any contracts are signed.

For that to happen, Pierre-Paul has to show up.

Pierre-Paul didn't attend the team's minicamp in June, as Coughlin had hoped. Now he has no idea when he'll see Pierre-Paul again.

"I don't know what to expect anymore," Coughlin said.