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Transcript: Wide Receiver Victor Cruz

Eric from BBI : Admin : 8/25/2015 9:01 pm
WR Victor Cruz

August 25, 2015



Q: How do you feel?

A: I’m feeling good. I’m just continuing to go through the regimen with the training program and training staff. I’m taking it one day at a time.



Q: Do you think you’ll be back practicing soon?

A: That’s the hope. It’s all up to the training staff, to see what they say, how they feel I’m progressing, and then taking it from there.



Q: What has kept you from coming back at this point?

A: It’s just still a little bit of inflammation there and just some things that they want to see clear up before I get back on this field and be 100% again. No worries, I’m just happy there is nothing wrong with the knee, and everything is good. The calf I can deal with.



Q: Is the calf injury related to dehydration?

A: I don’t think so. If I threw up right know, I would probably throw up a gallon of water. I pretty much drink water all day long, so I don’t think its dehydration. I think it’s just something that happens when you’re out here, you’re going hard every day, and tweaks and little things like that happen.



Q: Are you convinced you’re on track for opening day?

A: I do. I think obviously getting a couple days of good rehabilitation in, fixing the calf, and doing some things with the training staff, the things they have me doing in there, icing it, keeping it elevated at night, and things like that should keep the swelling down, and I should be out here ready to go for Dallas.



Q: How do you balance how important it is to get healthy and how important it is to get in a game?

A: It’s a little bit of both. You want to make sure that you stay healthy and that you’re out there at 100%. You never want to go out there and not be at your best because that’s how you get injured. Obviously the next phase for me was getting back out on that field and getting back to playing again. I feel like once I’m out there, once the adrenaline is kicking in, once I get hit one time, I mean it’s football at the end of the day. It’s a game I’ve been playing since I was young so I just have to go out there and do it. I think part of that is being healthy, which is what I’m working hard towards.



Q: You’ve has some big games against the Jets, so how hard is it going to be to not be able to go out there Saturday if you can’t go?

A: Not too difficult. Obviously I want to be out there with my team, be out there battling, and obviously helping them reps-wise, and getting a victory. Other than that, it’s about maintaining your health, maintaining what you want to accomplish as a goal from a team perspective, and that’s being ready for week one, when everything matters, everything counts, and we’re out there helping our team win.



Q: Does the fact that WR Odell Beckham Jr. has no catches just look like a timing issue?

A: Yeah, I think so. I was a little unhappy last week, I felt like some of those defensive backs were kind of gunning for him, and it was sad to see that go down because I couldn’t help him. I couldn’t go out there on the field and run routes with him. I couldn’t help him get some of the pressure off of him and things like that. Yeah, I think it’s still some timing things that we have to work out on this practice field, but that comes with the reps, and that comes with more game time decisions, game time feel, and every day is a better day to get that timing down.



Q: When you say gunning for him, do you mean extra stuff?

A: Yeah, I mean like certain stuff I was seeing on the field. Just when guys have the opportunity to get an interception and they don’t even go for the ball. I get it, it’s preseason, you’re trying to get a job, and I understand that, but let’s just keep it within the game a little bit.



Q: Do you think that’s something he’s going to have to deal with being such a high profile guy?

A: Yeah, I dealt with it a little bit as well, and I’ve spoken to him about it. It’s just something that he’s just got to deal with and kind of battle through. It’s not easy especially early in the preseason to go through something like, but it’s guys like myself, and the entire receiver room that kind of helps him and gets through.



Q: It seemed like he was aware of it.

A: From the line, you can see it as you’re running your route and you’re running a vertical route, and you take a peek at the safety before you look at the ball, and you just see him head down trying to spear you. You can see that from a mile away. He’s a smart kid, he understands that, but it’s just unfair. It kind of made me upset watching it.



Q: How did you deal with that?

A: You just have to kind of battle through. I had guys like Hakeem (Nicks) and different guys would tell me different things about how to handle it. You have to power through it and you have to kind of expect it every game. It’s a difference between coming in and not expecting it and then getting it and you’re surprised. You have to come into the game expecting that’s how you’re going to be treated and kind of make your adjustments off that.



Q: How do you feel about the fact that you’ve been in and out?

A: Obviously I want to be out there on the field. The goal is to be healthy and be out there with my teammates playing, getting the reps, and understanding this offense more and more as we progress this preseason, but I feel good. I think the time that I was out there I felt good, I was running good routes, and I was making things happen. It’s just a matter of getting back out there, so I think that’s my goal to be ready week one, and in the interim make sure I’m getting myself ready back here when you guys are not watching. I feel good, I feel confident that I’ll be okay come week one.



Q: So you’re just waiting for us…

A: To disappear, if you will, although that’s pretty inevitable and not going to happen.
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