reign in November 2015, thought Joshua would come through

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Driving a car for more than 30 minutes, standing up straight for extended periods and getting into his football stance all had the same effect on New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul last season. It hurt, and it hurt a lot. The 2011 All Pro player disclosed on Saturday that he played last season in pain, and it didnt go away until he had disk surgery on his back in June. "A back is a really, really horrible thing to have, back surgery period and you dont want to rush back," Pierre-Paul said Saturday before the Giants held their first practice. "Im not concentrating on the first game, the second game, the third game, fourth game, fifth game, sixth game. Im just trying to come back when I feel like Im ready to come back." While he feels better now, the catalyst of the Giants defence is not sure whether he will be ready for the season opener at Dallas on Sept. 8, although that is his goal. The Giants have placed him on their active physically unable to perform list, leaving him to continue his rehabilitation. "Honestly my plan is to get better, come out here and be a big part of the team and try to get to the playoffs because thats where it starts to make a Super Bowl run," he said. "And be a better player than I was last year." To be honest, Pierre-Paul had a sub-par 2012 season. After recording 16 1/2 sacks in helping the Giants win the Super Bowl in 2011, he had 10 less last year as New York posted a 9-7 record and missed the post-season. To his credit, Pierre-Paul never talked about his back or how much it hurt. He tried to reduce the pain level by strengthening his core during the season, and he admitted taking three shots during the year to numb the pain. It didnt work and it showed on the field. Pierre-Paul was not as dominant as he had been the previous year, although many suspected that was because opponents were paying more attention to him with double-and-triple team blocking. "Like I said, I dont know how much my back had to do with it or whatever," said Pierre-Paul, who added the pain started two years ago and only got worse. "It was a constant pain when I got down in my stance. When we played a 4-3, I always have to be down, and the push off that was there, and the pain takes away a big part of it." Pierre-Paul said he disclosed the pain with the trainers and talked to the team doctors about it, but they recommended that he continue his core training. The pain seemed to disappear after the season ended, but it returned during minicamp. Thats when the disk problem was discovered and the surgery was performed. The disk problem had also caused him to lose strength in his right leg, tests showed according to Pierre-Paul. After less than two months of rehabilitation, Pierre-Paul feels hes at 75 per cent. "The whole discomfort is gone," said the first-round pick who is entering his fourth season. "When I sit down I dont have that pain any more. When I am standing up I dont have that pain. I can stand up straight. Basically everything is gone. Thats a good thing. I am doing pretty good." Pierre-Paul believes he can regain the explosiveness that made him one of the NFLs most-feared defenders. "Its all on me. How I rehab," he said. "I am trying to get my core right, stronger, my back stronger. Its all on me. You dont want to go out there too early. You dont want to go out there too late. You want to be just enough so you can play the game." For now, Pierre-Paul sees his role as being there for his teammates. Hell watch practice and try to offer his insights. The downside is that he doesnt feel very much a part of the team. "I can do the rehab and all the things they tell me, but I still have to get a week under my belt in practice to see what I can do," Pierre-Paul said. "Going against two and three guys, getting double-teamed, is totally different from working by yourself. Thats what I have to be ready for." If he does get ready, the Giants are again going to be a threat to hassle opposing quarterbacks. Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Jared Cook Jersey . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. http://www.prochiefsauthentic.com/Youth-Armani-Watts-Elite-Jersey/ . 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The plans are in place, so now all heavyweight world titleholder Anthony Joshua has to do is win to make a much-anticipated megafight with former world champion Wladimir Klitschko a reality.Englands Joshua will defend his belt against American Eric Molina, a gargantuan underdog, on Saturday (Showtime, 5:30 p.m. ET) at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, and if he is successful, Joshua-Klitschko is on.The fight is agreed to and, pending a Joshua victory, would take place on April 29 at Wembley Stadium in London, Klitschko manager Bernd Boente told ESPN on Monday.Boente and Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing have been working on the fight since Tyson Fury, who is dealing with substance-abuse and mental-health issues, pulled out of an Oct. 29 rematch with Klitschko and vacated his title belts.We have reached an agreement for the fight and everything is fine. Eddie and I have had very smooth and constructive negotiations from the beginning, Boente said of the bout that would be for Joshuas title as well as one of the belts Fury vacated. The only thing that is still being negotiated is a few details Eddie and I working on with the stadium, but it looks very positive. We have a deal together, but the most important step now is that Anthony Joshua wins his title fight on Saturday.Klitschko, who once had Joshua as a sparring partner in his training camp, and Boente plan to be ringside in Manchester. If Joshua wins, Joshua-Klitschko could be announced after the fight, Boente said.Eddie and myself are co-promoters and we are working on everything together every step of the way, Boente said. We are discussing certain things [about the announcement] and hope we can announce it then or next week. We are still discussing how to do it, but we dont want to be too premature. Joshua still has to fight, but if he wins, the fight with Wladimir is one of the biggest fights in years.A fight between Joshua, a major star in England, and Ukraines Klitschko, who has sold out stadiums across Germany, where he has fought ffor most of his career, indeed would be the biggest bout in the heavyweight division.ddddddddddddIt would pit Olympic super heavyweight gold medalists -- Klitschko in 1996 and Joshua in 2012 -- in a fight that many believe would challenge the British attendance record set by the rematch between super middleweight titleholder Carl Froch and British rival George Groves, who drew some 80,000 to Wembley Stadium in May 2014 for a fight Hearn also promoted.Its not important when we announce it. Our deal is made, Boente said. We just have to sign it and wait until Anthony Joshua has done his work and hopefully beaten Molina, but Molina is a tough guy. He looked pretty good until he got knocked out by Deontay Wilder.Wilder defended his heavyweight belt against Molina by ninth-round knockout in June 2015, although Molina has won both of his fights since by knockout.What if Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) were to lose to Molina (25-3, 19 KOs) on Saturday?If it happens, then we have to deal with it, Boente said.But he added that Klitschko (64-4, 54 KOs), who will turn 41 in March and will have been out of the ring since Fury ended his nearly 10-year title reign in November 2015, thought Joshua would come through the fight in strong fashion and that he looked forward to fighting in England.Klitschko has fought once previously in England, a seventh-round knockout of Monte Barrett on a Lennox Lewis undercard in 2000. It was Klitschkos final fight before winning his first world title three months later.Wladimir is fine that the fight is in the U.K. because he loves the challenge and he loves that everybody in the stadium will be against him, Boente said.Boente added that Joshua, 27, and Klitschko have agreed to have drug testing for the fight to be overseen by the Las Vegas-based Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, which was overseeing drug testing for Fury-Klitschko II when Fury twice tested positive for cocaine. ' ' '