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Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul played with a club on his right hand as protection for injuries suffered during a fireworks accident after returning to action last year and wasn’t able to grab hold of ballcarriers or quarterbacks as a result.

That meant Pierre-Paul finished the year with one sack despite frequently generating good pressure off the edge in the second half of the season. Pierre-Paul, who re-signed with the Giants for one year this week, had more surgery after the season in hopes of being able to ditch the club for a glove next season.

During a Friday appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio with Alex Marvez and Phil Savage, Pierre-Paul said that he will not need the club and that his hand “won’t be [an] issue” when he returns to the field this year.

That would be an ideal situation for Pierre-Paul and the Giants, although everyone will have to see how Pierre-Paul’s hand holds up to football life before that can move from hope to fact. If it turns out to be the latter and Pierre-Paul returns to the form he showed before nearly blowing himself up, he’ll position himself well for a payday similar to the one new teammate Olivier Vernon had this week.