The New York Giants continue to remain committed to wide receiver Victor Cruz, who once again is dealing with a lingering training camp injury.
It’s been since October of 2014 that Cruz has suited up for a game. After his brutal torn patellar tendon injury that year, the receiver was optimistic about coming back in 2015 before training camp. Unfortunately a calf injury became a major issue, forcing him to have season-ending surgery.
This past offseason Cruz was progressing nicely after recovering from that injury and was excited about finally getting back into action. But then another injury cropped up (groin) that forced him to miss the team’s first preseason game.
Cruz is still being held out of practice with the groin injury. Head coach Ben McAdoo said on Monday that the injury was “still noticeably bothering him.
Tuesday, general manager Jerry Reese made it clear the Giants still hope he can finally get back to full health soon.
“We’re still not giving up on Cruz,” Reese said Monday on WFAN, via Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. “Hopefully, he’ll make it back.”
This statement is actually pretty loaded.
The key word here is “hopefully,” which indicates the team really has no idea if Cruz will ever be able to stay healthy enough to be productive. At this point, the Giants can have no confidence it will happen. Every time he’s gotten close, Cruz’s body has failed him.
McAdoo offered up a rather cryptic nugget to the media as well.
“Victor and I had a nice conversation yesterday afternoon, and we talked about some different things that may be able to help … I’ll let him share that, I’m not gonna share that,” McAdoo said, almost mysteriously. “I’ll keep our conversation private. ”
It was just a conversation between two men,” McAdoo added. “I’m gonna leave it private and if Victor wants to address it he can address it. I support Victor 100%.”
Again, what we see here is a phrase — “may be able to help” — that indicates the Giants really don’t have a ton of confidence that Cruz will be able to return to action.
It’s clear the Giants really want Cruz to succeed in his comeback bid. They are going to support him for as long as they can.
But it’s just as clear that hopes are dimming in the land of Big Blue that Cruz can ever get back to his salsa-dancing ways in end zones across the NFL landscape.