Bucs’ Jason Pierre-Paul had arthroscopic knee surgery

Jason Pierre-Paul is no stranger to offseason surgery. But compared to some other procedures he has endured during his career, the one Friday morning was pretty minor.

The Bucs outside linebacker underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to clean up some cartilage that was causing discomfort when working out and should recover in three to four weeks. That means Pierre-Paul likely won’t miss much, if any, training camp, which is scheduled for July 28.

Pierre-Paul, who signed a two-year, $25 million contract with the Bucs in March after recording 8.5 sacks in 10 games last season, posted a video of himself preparing for knee surgery on Snapchat on Friday morning.

“All right. Knee surgery done ... back to the grind. Just like that,” Pierre-Paul said in the video.

Pierre-Paul is no stranger to trips to the hospital in the offseason. On May 2, 2019, Pierre-Paul lost control of his red Ferrari on a rain-slicked I-95 in south Florida and sustained a cervical neck fracture that cost him the first six weeks of the season. Although the injury didn’t require surgery, he was in a neck brace for nearly two months.

When he returned, playing opposite NFL sack leader Shaquil Barrett, Pierre-Paul recorded his first of 8.5 sacks on his first play.

Of course, his worst accident occurred on July 4, when a fireworks explosion at a cookout near his hometown in Deerfield Beach resulted in the amputation on his right index finger and a portion of another finger along with a broken thumb.

Since being traded to the Bucs in 2018, Pierre-Paul has recorded 21 sacks in only 24 games.