The Bucs received a nice surprise when Jason Pierre-Paul was on the field for practice on Friday. Pierre-Paul has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, and head coach Bruce Arians didn’t foresee him playing again this week.

“Nothing surprises me with Jason,” Arians said. “He looked pretty good.”

Perseverance came through for Pierre-Paul, who has dealt with multiple injuries in his career and still toughed it out to play. Arians told Pierre-Paul he was making the trip to New England this week, but he then told Arians that he wasn’t going as just a spectator. A player with the energy that Pierre-Paul has just can’t be replaced.

“Yeah, he brings it and it’s in the locker room, it’s infectious, it’s contagious,” Arians said. “He’s one of those guys. I kind of told him, I said, ‘Look, you’re traveling this week.’ He said, ‘If I’m traveling, I’m playing.’ So we’ll see.”

The Bucs defense has particularly struggled in the passing game, recording just three sacks and finding themselves last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game. Hopefully the insertion of Pierre-Paul can bring some of the liveliness that the defense has been missing.

“It’s always different when you lose a guy with that kind of energy,” defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said. “But from an urgency standpoint and an energy standpoint, we didn’t lose anything there. We’ve just got to coach it better and play it better.”

His constant determination to return to the game hasn’t gone unnoticed by those around him. While he may not have the “C” on his jersey, Pierre-Paul brings so much value as a leader to the Bucs.

“The element of JPP is amazing,” said defensive lineman Will Gholston. “He’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met or played with. It’s crazy. I’ve never seen anyone like that. He’s like a mutant.