Jason Pierre-Paul said the accusations of domestic violence made against Josh Brown by his now ex-wife in a 2015 police report "doesn't matter" and that he and his teammates "look past" those claims.
"We're all family around here," Pierre-Paul said. "People have their own problems to handle. He's still our brother and we look past it. We're going to need him. Every [game] we're going to need him."
Brown was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault/DV in May 2015 when he allegedly grabbed the wrist of his then-wife, Molly, during an argument in their home in the state of Washington. The charges were dropped by the district attorney five days later, but Molly Brown outlined 20 previous incidents of threatening or abusive behavior by Brown to police. Those claims are included in a case file obtained by Newsday from the King County sheriff's office.
Brown was suspended one game by the NFL for violating the personal conduct policy. The league said Friday that it found "insufficient information to corroborate prior allegations" of domestic abuse by Brown. The league also said Molly Brown declined to speak with the league during its 10-month investigation.
While many Giants players and executives have remained silent on the matter _ including co-owner John Mara and general manager Jerry Reese, who declined to comment Saturday _ a few players were asked about and spoke on Brown's situation for the first time Monday.
"Obviously it's a sad situation what he's going through," guard Justin Pugh said. "Obviously, you have to be there for your teammate. It's definitely something that's tough. I don't want to get too into it because I don't know all the details ... but all we can do is support our teammate and make sure we're there for him. It's definitely a tough situation."
Football-wise, the Giants made a roster move to replace Brown for at least the one game he will sit out. They were hoping first-year kicker Tom Obarski would get them through the regular-season opener in Dallas on Sept. 11, but he missed a 27-yard field-goal attempt in Buffalo on Saturday. The Giants signed Randy Bullock on Monday and released Obarski. Bullock, 26, has kicked 75 of 93 career field goals for the Texans and Jets. Last season, he replaced Nick Folk with the Jets for eight games and was 14-for-17 on field-goal attempts and 19-for-20 on extra points.
Bullock has four accrued seasons in the NFL (he has played three and was on injured reserve as a rookie in 2012), so if he is on the Giants' opening day roster, he can elect to have his base salary for 2016 guaranteed. Vested veterans _ those with four or more years in the league _ are allowed to collect that full year of paychecks just once in their careers. It's unclear if the Giants are "renting" Bullock or hope he can compete with Brown through the rest of the preseason and potentially win the job outright. Brown, 37 and a veteran of 13 NFL seasons, is coming off a Pro Bowl year and signed a two-year contract to return to the Giants this offseason.
Pierre-Paul said he has not spoken directly with Brown about the claims against him or his suspension.
"You know me," he said. "At the end of the day, every guy on this team has a situation, you know what I'm saying? I don't like people knowing my business and my situation, so I try to keep out of [other] people's situations unless they come to me and ask for help."
Pierre-Paul said he believes Brown deserves to remain on the team.
"Why should he be cut?" he asked. "Every guy needs a chance."
Even a guy who has been accused of nearly two dozen incidents?
"Who knows?" Pierre-Paul said. "You weren't there."
