EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Jason Pierre-Paul is suddenly among the top 20 players in sacks in the NFL with 9.5, and has a chance to crack double digits for only the second time in his career -- in a contract year, no less.
Yet when asked Thursday if that numerical milestone would mean anything to him, Pierre-Paul's response was a tad surprising.
"Nope!" he said. "I'm just playing football, and I think I'm doing a great job of it."
The stats certainly back Pierre-Paul up. He has six sacks in the Giants' past three games -- 1.5 in the loss to the Jaguars, two in the win over the Titans, and 2.5 in last week's victory over the Redskins. He's now tied for 15th in the league, with the Dolphins' Cameron Wake and the Bills' Jerry Hughes -- but he doesn't sound too excited about it.
"Way before my sacks went up I was playing good," Pierre-Paul said. "At the end of the day it’s all about numbers, but I was playing great before that."
Stats back up that statement, too. Pro Football Focus has Pierre-Paul rated the second-best 4-3 defensive end in the league, behind only Wake. And against the run, he's No. 1, by a large margin -- not too shabby for a guy known as a pass-rusher.
Suddenly, Pierre-Paul -- who's been a big disappointment the past two years -- looks like a player who will get a big contract this offseason. He has stated that he would like to stay with the Giants, but whether they'll pony up is very much in question.
Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell gushed about Pierre-Paul on Friday. "I just think JPP has turned it up a notch this second half of the season," Fewell said.
And the play Fewell was most impressed by last week wasn't even one of Pierre-Paul's sacks -- it was his chase-down of Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III on the final play of the first half, which caused Griffin to fumble and negated a Washington touchdown.
"Amazing. Absolutely amazing," Fewell said. "Because RG3 as a 4.4, 4.5 (40-yard dash) guy, JPP was on the right side of the defensive line -- it just showed you his desire to want to make that football play, and I think that’s what he has done over the last three or fours weeks. He's turned it up, his desire to make plays."
"I was in awe, I really was," Fewell added. "It was like, wow. The guy continues to amaze you."
Pierre-Paul isn't the only Giants defensive player to step up of late. The team as a whole has 22 sacks the past three weeks -- in fact, the Giants are the first team since the 1989 Vikings to record seven sacks in three straight games (credit ESPN Stats & Information).
Second-year player Johnathan Hankins is now up to seven sacks -- the fifth-most by a defensive tackle in the NFL. And rookie linebacker Devon Kennard has 4.5 -- all of them coming the past three weeks.
Pierre-Paul credited improved communication across the defensive line, when asked about the sack surge.
"We’ve had to do some different things," Fewell admitted, in regards to the increased pressure on opposing quarterbacks. But that's all we got -- when asked what has changed, Fewell's answer was short, and not so sweet.
"If I told you that I’d have to kill you," Fewell said, with a smile.