Do you recognize this man?
He wears No. 90 in a New York Football Giants uniform.
He sacked opposing quarterbacks 16 ½ times in 16 games in 2011, but has only 7 ½ sacks in the 23 games he has played since — including only one sack in seven games this season.
His rare but raw pass-rushing skills had him on a fast track to stardom in 2011, but something happened to Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul on that journey to stardom: He has become ordinary.
As curious as his production decline has been to the Giants coaches and the fans, it has been most confounding to Pierre-Paul, the defensive end who has been trying frantically trying to chase the Pierre-Paul of 2011, daydreaming this week of flattening Eagles quarterback Michael Vick a few times Sunday in Philadelphia.
“I’m going back and looking at old film from 2011 to see the simple things I’m missing in my game this year,’’ Pierre-Paul said Thursday. “I’m trying to get better — back to my old self.”
What does he see on that 2011 film?
“I see a whole different player from now,’’ he said. “I’m not an opposing threat to [teams] how I used to be. Even though last year my numbers weren’t up [6 ½ sacks], I still felt like I was that player before the surgery. But things just changed.’’
Pierre-Paul wavered from saying the effects of offseason back surgery have had a negative impact on his play this year to saying it would take “a full offseason’’ for him to return to his old form.
“He’s not playing to the standard he wants to play to, obviously,’’ Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “Everyone expects so much of him, he’s pressing. He’s trying to get there, but he’s just not there yet. We believe in him and he’s got to believe in himself also.’’
It seems he does.
“I’m a great player,’’ Pierre-Paul said. “I’m one of the best defensive ends in the league. I know what I can do and what I can bring to my team when I’m healthy and I’m 100 percent. You leave me one-on-one long enough, you’re definitely going to feel sorry for yourself. It’s really going to take that whole offseason next year to get back to my old, old self. The old ‘JPP’ is not gone.
“[I] wasn’t expecting myself to come out and be Superman, and I’m pretty sure the coaches weren’t expecting me to be Superman, either.
“It’s ridiculous for anyone who thought that was going to be possible.”
But Fewell expects it, sort of.
“I always expect Superman out of him,’’ he said. “It’s probably unfair to him because everybody’s expectations of him are to be Superman, but he’s human.’’
Cornerback Terrell Thomas said he has seen Pierre-Paul “struggle’’ with trying to live up to 2011, when success perhaps came too fast for him.
“It’s something that he’s felt he has to live up to, and living up to that has been tough on him,’’ Thomas said.
“It’s tough to [duplicate] any type of great season,’’ said Victor Cruz, who also burst onto the scene and became a star in 2011. “To [Pierre-Paul’s] credit, you never see him down or discouraged about anything that’s going on. There comes a time when you have to be real with yourself and go out there and play and not think about what you did last year, because that’s in the past. That’s what he’s doing.”
But until his sacks return, Pierre-Paul will still find himself trying — perhaps in vain — to recapture 2011, and he understands that.
“At the end of the day this game is all about numbers,’’ he said “When you’re in this league, you’ve got to make a name for yourself and make people respect you. I think I’ve done that, and I’m not finished yet.’’
When his work day was finished Thursday, though, based on a tweet he sent out at about 5 p.m., Pierre-Paul apparently was pulled over by a cop and given a ticket. This was the sarcastic message on his Twitter account: “S/o to officer Bachelor 4Rom East Rutherford for kindly giving me a ticket. Thank you very much.’’
Maybe “officer Bachelor’’ did not recognize Pierre-Paul. This is what happens to defensive ends who have one sack in seven games. If this was 2011, he probably would have skated on that ticket.