The New York Giants would like Michael Strahan to take a little time out from talking to Kelly Ripa and spend some time talking to Jason Pierre-Paul.
Giants General Manager Jerry Reese said on WFAN that he wants Strahan, who set the NFL’s single-season sack record before he became a TV personality, to work with Pierre-Paul, who burst onto the scene with 16.5 sacks in 2011 but had a disappointing 6.5 sacks in 2012.
“I’m going to reach out to Michael Strahan this offseason to see if we can have some conversations with JPP and just tell him, ‘Look, it’s inside your chest, a lot of it,’” Reese said, via the New York Daily News. “‘You’ve got to have the heart to do it.’ I think he does, but I think if he heard it from somebody like Michael Strahan, that would really encourage him.”
Pierre-Paul acknowledged during the season that he was growing frustrated by constantly having to fight through double teams, but Reese said that if Pierre-Paul wants to be great, he can’t use double teams as an excuse.
“After Michael became a superstar defensive end, he was getting double-teamed, he was getting chipped, but he was still getting sacks,” Reese said. “So the great ones still get through there and make plays. And he’s got to do that. He can’t give up, like ‘Wow, they’re double-teaming me, they’re triple-teaming me, they’re high-lowing me, they’re doing everything to me.’ That’s frustrating to a young player. But to be a superstar defensive end, a pass rusher in this league, you have to beat those double-team blocks.”
Strahan has a weekday job on Live with Kelly & Michael, and a weekend job on FOX NFL Sunday, but if he can squeeze in a few hours to be a part-time defensive line coach, the Giants would appreciate it.