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Tuesday Media Transcript: WR Victor Cruz

Eric from BBI : Admin : 12/6/2016 6:02 pm
WR Victor Cruz

December 6, 2016

Q: How do you gauge your frustration with being such a team guy?

A: By doing just that, by gauging it. Obviously it is always team first. Naturally, me doing well individually helps the team and helps everybody else on the offense, so that is my only quarrel, just trying to compete at the highest level and be able to be a catalyst to help my team win ball games.

Q: Will you talk to Eli?

A: We can. We talk about everything always, each and every day, whether it is game plan or whether it is what we are trying to do. But I don’t think I need to speak to him about getting me the ball or anything like that. That comes with just being out there, getting those reps, him seeing it visually. I don’t think I need to have a sit down conversation with him.

Q: Do you feel like you heard what you needed to hear after your meeting with the head coach?

A: I did. We had an honest conversation between both of us. He laid it to me straight and I gave him my thoughts as well and I think it was productive and it ended well. It was a conversation that I guess needed to be had and we had it and we can turn the page and move on.

Q: Was it contentious or just two guys trying to solve a problem?

A: No, it was just two guys trying to problem solve. There was no anger, there was nothing back and forth. It was just two guys trying to figure it out and try and continue how to make this team and this receiving corps as productive as possible.

Q: Did you leave the meeting with Coach McAdoo thinking that you would be targeted this week?

A: I would hope so. I leave every meeting feeling like that, you know what I mean? But obviously I think there will be some concerted efforts to get everyone the football and get everyone involved, including myself, so to answer that in short, yes, it feels like I will be getting at least one target this week.

Q: How excited are you about this ball game?

A: Extremely excited. Obviously the Dallas Cowboys are, some might say, our arch nemesis and we look forward to lining up and playing a ball game against them right here in our home stadium.

Q: Would it be fair to say that you think you are healthy and capable enough to play a full game’s reps?

A: Absolutely. I have played full games earlier in the season. I have played 50, 60 snaps and been okay and done well and been able to produce and perform for this team, so my body is definitely healthy enough to handle a full game’s worth of work.

Q: How much are you aching to salsa at MetLife?

A: Like you wouldn’t believe, man. I want to salsa dance every game. I want to get in that end zone as much as possible, but to get one at home would be that much sweeter as we go down the stretch here. But I just want to get the ball in my hands and getting into the end zone is part of it.

Q: Sterling Shepard didn’t have any targets the week before. What do you think the issue is right now?

A: I think it is just a level of consistency from top to bottom, not just the receivers, not just the tight ends, I think it is everyone being on the same page because it takes all of us to be on the same page in order to be productive and successful from top to bottom. So we just have to understand to just keep sticking the course, keep doing what we are doing because eventually it is going to click. We didn’t win six games in a row for no reason without anyone clicking or anyone doing something right, so we just have to get back to it.

Q: I am sorry if I missed this, but can you put your finger on why everything seems so hard for this offense right now?

A: I think it is just trying to find that consistency. Trying to find those play calls or those situational plays that work for us and sticking with those and being great with those and I think it is just a matter of time before we get those and we start clicking and all those plays start to come out for us and start to click. We just have to stay the course and understand that we didn’t go on a six-game win streak for no reason. It happened for a reason because we are a good team and we felt what winning feels like in this locker room and we just want to get back to that.

Q: Do you still believe?

A: One hundred percent. We definitely still believe in everything that is intact for us. Our goals are all in front of us. Not one person in here has given up or says, ‘We lost one game, snapped our streak and now let’s tank it.’ I think we are excited about the future and excited about putting our best foot forward down the stretch here.

Q: When you looked at the tape, what did you see from yourself?

A: I saw that there were definitely some areas of the ball game where I could have gotten the football or was open enough to receive the football. But a multitude of things, like Eli getting flushed to the opposite side or just getting sacked or getting pressured or whatever the case may be, kind of negated that, so yeah, there were opportunities, but were those opportunities, plays where I could have gotten the ball? Some yeah and some no. Obviously, sometimes the defense dictates where the ball goes.

Q: Was it more being mad or frustrated?

A: I think just in the moment a little bit of frustration because you want to help your team, you want to perform and you want to play. But after that I quickly understood. Right after a game tempers can flare and you can feel a certain way, but it is a matter of just understanding what is in front of you and getting ready for the next one.

Q: Wasn’t it not just that you weren’t targeted, but that it was also a loss?

A: Obviously that was compounded, but even if we would have won I would have still – it would have been a different energy around it, but I still would have some questions and try and figure it out and get on the same page with coach. Not maliciously or anything like that, but just trying to be an attribute to this team.

Q: Was McAdoo receptive? Did you approach him?

A: He came up to me. I came into the building, we were getting ready for our first meeting and he came up to me and was like, ‘You are coming to see me, right?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I am coming to see you.’ Shortly after, I came and saw him and we spoke and then that was it. He was receptive to what I was saying, I understood everything he said and we took it from there.
CRUZ  
EJJ : 12/6/2016 8:10 pm : link
He's an intelligent,well spoken guy. Watch he still has a big play or two this year.
Obj would be roasted over the coals by some on BBI  
OBJ_AllDay : 12/6/2016 10:10 pm : link
With some of these answeres (and I don't even think there was anything crazy said). Just odd. But I guess you find out who gets hypnotized by and who regurgitates the talking heads statements and who doesn't.
Love Cruz  
Marty866b : 12/6/2016 10:15 pm : link
Just wish he still had the ability to get open.
I agree with Cruz  
blueblood'11 : 12/7/2016 7:03 am : link
What was wrong with some of his answers? He was being honest and to tell you the truth, if it were Odell giving those same answers I'd agree with him too. You have to find a way to spread the ball around. Get everyone involved. It was so evident that at some point Eli was laser focused on Beckham and Beckham alone. It was almost absurd.

This is is a quick strike get the ball out of his hands fast offense. Why can't the the ball go to Cruz, or Sheppard,or the shitty tightend. The play of the offense made it too easy for the Steelers defense. Even if some of those targets fall incomplete it gives the defense more to think about. They ran the ball only 14 times and everything else seemed to go to Beckham.

You think the Steelers didn't see that as well. It's not like the Giants were so far behind that they had to go into panic mode and throw in every down. Cruz is right. And I hope he pointed out to McAdoo we are better when teams have to worry about everyone on the fiield not just one player.,
Cruz shut up  
eliapple : 12/7/2016 8:31 am : link
Get open.Now Eli will force passes to
Him too?
Shows the doubters they are wrong and get open vs Dallas  
Jimmy Googs : 12/7/2016 8:41 am : link
then we will all be less frustrated...
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