EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Mathias Kiwanuka is going back to being a defensive end for the New York Giants -- and as a starter. Kiwanuka was thrust into the role earlier this week when Jason Pierre-Paul had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back. "Theres no doubt in my mind," Kiwanuka said, when asked whether he was confident he would be able to step in for the Giants most dominant player on defence. "Thats the position I came into this league playing and Im lking forward to the opportunity. Obviously wed love to have him back and Im sure hell be back ready to go at a certain point. "Were not gonna rush him back for any reason." The Giants dont expect Pierre-Paul back until late in training camp. Coach Tom Coughlin hopes to have him for Week 1, although that might be pushing it. Until JPP is ready, though, Kiwanuka isnt a bad option. Starting isnt anything new for him. The question for the former Boston College star and 2006 first-round pick has always been where he would play. He has 62 career starts -- 31 as a defensive end and 31 as a linebacker. There is no doubt Kiwanuka is a better defensive end, but the Giants have had a plethora of ends with Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Pierre-Paul through the years. As a result, Kiwanuka tk one for the team and used his versatility to play linebacker, so the team would have its best players on the field. When Umenyiora signed with Atlanta as a free agent in the off-season, defensive co-ordinator Perry Fewell and Coughlin decided to move the 30-year-old Kiwanuka back to end on a full-time basis. Fellow starting defensive end Justin Tuck knows Kiwanuka is lking forward to having his hand back in the dirt. "I think hes going to be kind of like a sleeper at the beginning of the year because a lot of people tend to forget that hes a pretty gd defensive end," Tuck said. "Im obviously excited to have him back in that rm and I know hes pretty excited about it." Defensive line coach Robert Nunn said that while the loss of Umenyiora was part of the reason for switching Kiwanuka, he also said the constant switching from linebacker to end frequently left "Kiwi" a little uncomfortable on the field. He finished last season with just 37 tackles, three sacks, nine quarterback hits and eight hurries. "Its been a long road for me. Ive been starting at multiple positions," said Kiwanuka, who missed most of the 2010 season with a neck injury. "Ive been up and down and back and forth. Moving around and changing . thats not the big deal to me. The big deal for me is going out there and making sure that I do my job correctly and when I get the opportunity, I make the best of it." With Kiwanuka in the starting lineup, the Giants are going to need some of their younger linemen to step up. Third-year pro Adrian Tracy has improved and the Giants are very high on Damontre Mre, the third-round draft pick out of Texas A&M. "We have plenty of talented guys. Lets step up and go," Coughlin said. "There are more opportunities for younger guys. We need them. There it is, you can see it. Competition is lking right at you. You dont even have to go any further than the first game. So that is the way I would lk at it -- opportunity." There has to be some concern about Pierre-Paul, who wasnt as dominant as he had been in 2011 when he had 16 1/2 sacks. Opponents double-and-triple teamed him more and it cut his sack total to 6 1/2. The 24-year-old also had 87 tackles, an interception, seven passes defended, a forced fumble, 17 quarterback hits, 23 hurries and 14 tackles for losses in his so-called off season. Safety Antrel Rolle said teammates knew Pierre-Paul was playing hurt. He also wasnt surprised by the surgery, which was done after non-surgical therapy failed. "I knew he was dealing with this for quite a period of time," Rolle said. "But JPP is a fighter so he wanted to be out there with his guys and fight through pain. But its better to be smart in this game, instead of letting it linger." ---- NOTES: Coughlin still doesnt know why WR Hakeem Nicks is skipping the voluntary OTAs. The two have not talked. ... The Giants have a mandatory three-day minicamp next week. .... CB Terrell Thomas, who tore his ACL for the second straight season, is going to be used as a combination nickel back and safety this season.Nike Air Max 97 Plus Sale . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Air Max 97 Silver Bullet Fake . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. http://www.outletairmax97.com/air-max-97-have-a-nike-day.html . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Cheap Nike Air Max 97 China . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Air Max 97 Ultra 17 Fake . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy.The NFL relaxed its in-game video and social media rules for individual teams on Friday, a move that came seven weeks after it had enforced restrictions of what clubs could post, angering many teams.According to an internal memo distributed Friday afternn and viewed in part by ESPN, teams may now:? Capture and post GIFs of ancillary content, such as touchdown celebrations and player reactions during games.? Publish any in-progress video available via the NFLs internal distribution system to team websites.? Conduct one pregame live stream via Periscope or Facebk Live per game.? Use postgame content -- such as locker rm celebrations -- immediately, rather than observe a 60-minute moratorium.Teams also can now post five snaps of live in-game action to Snapchat per game, after the practice previously was not allowed.The most valuable change allows for teams to post unlimited GIFs of highlights, which dont count against individual team video quotas.Meanwhile, Yah Finance reported that teams can now post up to 16 videos per game day, twice the amount of the previous total.The league office and the teams have had differences of oppinions for years on how best to pursue in-game digital strategy.dddddddddddd Teams wanted to push as much content as possible, and the league wanted to control distribution in order to maximize monetization.The league moved in October to limit what it considered egregious violations of official policies. Several teams, including the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, responded by posting GIFs and videos during games that mocked the NFLs refusal to allow original video content to be published.Fans expressed their frustration t, as team social feeds that they relied on to give them a certain amount of in-game content all of a sudden became more generic.One team executive told ESPN that teams still dont believe the NFL has relaxed the policies enough, especially with the use of Facebk Live, but the league feels it is in a tough position, as it doesnt want to give the content to Facebk for free. Twitter pays for its Thursday Night Ftball stream.ESPNs Darren Rovell contributed to this report. ' ' '