WR Victor Cruz
August 20, 2015
Q: How’s your calf?
A: It’s good, it’s good. Got through the treatment today, did a couple things, so it’s feeling better than yesterday.
Q: Tom Coughlin was saying he thought that was an issue of dehydration, was that it?
A: Yeah, I think it was a little bit of that. It was a little bit of just things that happen out here. Just a little mix of dehydration, a little tweak running around, routes and stuff like that. And it’s just one of those things that happen during the course of practice.
Q: It seemed like you were stepping up more and more each practice, a lot of us were thinking maybe you would be out there this weekend.
A: Yeah, and that was part of it. Obviously they were upping my reps this week in practice and seeing that I was feeling good and doing good. It was unfortunate that it happened, but it’s a good thing that it’s minor and I can get through it.
Q: Are you going to practice today?
A: I don’t know yet. That’s up to the training staff, I’ll have a conversation with them literally as soon as I leave here. So we’ll see.
Q: Calf strains can last for weeks and weeks depending on the severity. Did they give you any kind of timetable?
A: No. They didn’t give me a timetable, but I know how it feels for me right now [compared to] how it did when it first happened. It feels light years better than it did then. I doubt Coach will let me play this weekend, but we’ll see.
Q: When did it happen?
A: It happened two days ago. I kind of felt it early on during practice, but I kind of kept going. And then I felt it again at the end of practice, and that’s when I told the trainers.
Q: Obviously, it’s not the knee. Do you prefer to be a little more cautious?
A: Sure. And we are. We are being cautious, and we are taking our time and making sure we’re not doing anything out of the ordinary. The training staff has been extremely diligent and myself with taking our time making sure we do this right.
Q: Do you think you can play this week?
A: I don’t know. I mean if you leave it up to me, I want to play every day. But it’s obviously up to the training staff, so we’ll see what they say.
Q: You had to know at some point it wasn’t going to be a straight shot, there would be some little setbacks along the way. Is this something that you equipped yourself for mentally?
A: Of course. I knew that the journey is long and hard. It wasn’t going to be easy the rest of the way. I knew there would be something that would come up. Whether it be out here on the field or with my body, but I’m excited that it’s not something that’s major. It’s something I can get over, and something that’s not going to be a huge hindrance.
Q: Is it the same leg?
A: No. Opposites. Opposite leg.
Q: Rashad Jennings just said that he had complete confidence in the offensive line so far. With you relatively healthy and getting back and everybody else, what do you think about the offense this year and what do you see yourself doing?
A: I see us taking that next step. Obviously, second year in this offense, it’s a pivotal year for us to kind of take that next step and make sure we’re doing all the good things that our coaches expect us to do out there on the field. I think we have a ton of talent on this team on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams. But offensively, if we can get ourselves together, get everybody out there at the same time getting ready to play, I think we’ll be a huge force come this season.
Q: Is there any kind of importance to getting everybody out there, particularly in preseason?
A: Of course. 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 sometimes that’s not always the case. I think these practices 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 will come.