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New York Giants News: Victor Cruz Likely Out vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

By Kenneth Teape

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Things have been tough for the New York Giants in training camp thus far, as a lot of injuries are already submarining the team. One of the positives to come out of camp thus far has been the progress of wide receiver Victor Cruz. Cruz is recovering from a debilitating knee injury suffered in Week 6 when he tore his Patellar tendon. He has continued making great progress, even being fully cleared for practice, but he will more than likely still sit out the Giants’ second preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars tomorrow night.

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Cruz was working towards playing Saturday night, but head coach Tom Coughlin says he has moved into the probably not column. The reason? A calf injury he developed earlier in the week. A player rehabbing from a serious knee injury is bad enough, but if there is any silver lining to take away from the new calf injury is that it is in the leg opposite the one he had surgery on last season.

While he has avoided a setback on his surgically repaired knee, it is still discouraging that he will be off the field for at least another week. He would like to get into at least one of the last two preseason games against the New York Jets August 29th or the New England Patriots September 3rd. Playing in a preseason game isn’t overly important for some players, but for a person in the situation that Cruz is, getting on the field in those games is very important.

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Cruz gave some insight to the ordeal Thursday at practice, saying, “You want to go out there in real-time action and get some good, solid work in with everyone else and everyone ready to go, but that’s not always the case. I think these practice are pivotal in terms of getting everybody healthy, getting everybody out here understanding what we do in practice, because it’s such a tedious game with all these little nuances that you have to learn and know, especially with our offense. That’s the biggest thing for me, is that we’re focused in practice. Then I feel like the game stuff with come.”

To this point, Cruz has passed all of the hurdles and tests that have been presented to him. According to people who watch him at practice, he looks good. He is working, has solid straight line speed and is catching the ball well. But there is only so much Cruz can push himself in practice.

While keeping him out of game action would keep him safer from injury, Cruz needs to get over the mental hurdle of playing in a game. No matter how many situations the Giants coaching staff puts the team through, or join practices they participate in with other teams, there is nothing like playing real speed in a game, even if it is a preseason contest. In a game, there is much more read and react that will push Cruz to do things on his knee he wouldn’t be able to do in practice, where things are much more controlled.

Playing in game action is the only way to truly see if Cruz is anywhere near back to the level he was playing at prior to the knee injury. Hopefully he will be able to show some of that ability before the preseason ends, as it will help get his mind ready for the regular season and give the Giants an idea of where is at, and how much they can use him, once the games begin to count.

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