WR Victor Cruz
August 17, 2016
Q: How are you feeling?
A: Good. Today is a better day.
Q: Coach McAdoo mentioned that you and he had a talk about a long term plan to get healthy?
A: You just made that up. A long term plan? Did you make that up?
Q: No, someone asked that question and he said, “We had a nice conversation. It was a conversation between two men. I’m not going to go into detail, but if Victor wants to that is up to him.” Do you care to elaborate?
A: It was a personal conversation, but it was one that I feel like I needed to have with him just to let him know where I was mentally because a lot of it is just between the training staff and they report to him what the injuries are or whatever the case may be throughout the day and throughout the week and I wanted to personally talk to him about how I felt and the things that I have felt in my mind and in my heart about the past two years and what is happening now and things like that. It was a good conversation between men, like you said, and it was a personal one that I want to keep in house.
Q: Where are you at mentally?
A: I feel good. Mentally, I am in a good space. I just want to continue to listen to the training staff, continue to listen to my body and go about things the right way.
Q: Jerry Reese said that they would like to see you play in two preseason games just to see where you are. Are you eyeing specifics games or snaps in the preseason to show yourself that you are the same player?
A: I just want to play. I am not eyeing any snaps or whatever that number is. I am not trying to eye any specific number. I just want to go out there and play and go out there and prove that I can play, that I can still play at a high level, that I can still play this game and go from there.
Q: Are there any similarities between the calf injury last year and the groin injury this year?
A: No similarities.
Q: It looked like you did a lot on the side today. How did you feel?
A: I felt good. We ramped it up a little bit today. We are going to be picking up the intensity as these days progress, just to pick it up a little bit and see where I am physically and do some change of direction stuff towards the end of this week and see where it goes, but I feel great. My body feels great after all of that movement and hopefully we can pick it up and progress moving forward.
Q: In terms of ramping it up, do you give them the go ahead and say, “Let’s dial this up”?
A: Well, it is obviously day to day, but as the good days start to stack up, we ramp it up as we go along, so every day we have feedback. Every morning I come in and tell them how I feel and tell them whether I am sore, not sore, good or not good, and we kind of take it from there.
Q: What do you say to the fans who think Victor Cruz is done?
A: Tune in.
Q: Is this groin injury worse than ones in the past or are you just treating it differently?
A: I think I am just treating it differently. I know the feeling between one that I can kind of play through as opposed to the one that I need to ease up before it gets any worse and I think that was the case a few days ago with this one and so far everything has been positive, the feedback has been positive and everything from the training staff, and more importantly the way I feel has been positive. Each and every morning and each and every time I come out here and test it out, it feels good, so that is the gauge, that is the progress that I was looking for.
Q: Can you talk about why you think this was a good day out there for you?
A: Just being able to move a little bit more, do more things, get some sprints in, do some lateral movement a little bit and just go out there and ramp up the workload a little bit more than what we have been doing, so I am excited that everything has been positive so far and that my body is responding the right way.
Q: You said that changing direction was out of the question. What day do you expect you might be able to do that?
A: I don’t know. It is all a part of the training staff and how we go about our days. They don’t tell me things moving forward. So I don’t expect anything. They kind of tell me the morning of, so I am not game planning in my own mind about what I am doing the next day and the day after that, so we are taking it day by day and ramping it up as we see fit.
Q: Is it fair to say that you are not on schedule, but that you see progress?
A: Exactly.
Q: How hard is it for you to stay positive?
A: It is not hard at all. I have a good support system here at the Giants organization and at home with my family that keeps me upbeat and keeps me positive and makes sure that I am not hanging my head low and understanding that there is going to be bumps in the road. This is just another test that God is putting me through to make sure that I make it through and cherish the other side, so I am treating it as such and making sure that I am ready when my number is called.
Q: Do you think of the roster spot? That decision is going to come and is that in your mind since you aren’t on the field?
A: Obviously. I am a normal human being, so I think about that stuff, but all I can do is take care of what I can take care of and control what I can control and that is my health and being out there when I can.
I have to say, this latest setback has an ominous feel.
I have to say, this latest setback has an ominous feel.
I agree but after reading this board you would think Cruz is laying in a casket somewhere.
in a Game .....
A: I don’t know.
Well, then, it certainly doesn't look like he will be playing this weekend....
The glimmer of hope is this: there were some indications that right before this groin thing he was starting to show a little something. It is hard to say because reports are vague and it is not clear when they say things like 'we are working to build him back' if that somehow implies we have yet to see him turn it loose, by plan. It is possible that this groin injury may actually reflect a shred of hope: that what we have been observing is a guy who had yet to test his limits on the practice field but suffered a minor setback when trying to finally cut loose after extended layoff. That is one possible narrative, but it is unclear. I don't know if this is likely, but this is really the only possible scenario I can see that might result in VC making an impact this season.
Regardless, we should know soon enough. Time is running out and as soon as he is cleared to practice/see game action, we are going to see if this guy has another gear or not.
One preliminary thought before getting to the meat: I think it was FMiC or TTH who cast doubt in one of yesterday's threads, probably the camp notes, as to how the groin could stem from or be related to the calf or the knee. One would suppose they are unrelated, but when you've shut down one part of your body for an extended period, whether due to RICE (to rest/recover from soft tissue problem) or in rehab from surgery, upon return I do think there are psychological, physiological, and leverage changes and adjustments that are made that can lead to a collateral, seemingly unrelated injury. And as you suggest, I think, when he began to step on the accelerator a bit, maybe the groin was not ready for that stress. Whatever.
But the consequences flowing from the VC uncertainty and potential--even likely--unavailability this season are very significant for the team. The biggest addition is SS, we love his potential and his craft, but he is small bodied, no doubt going to be playing in the slot a lot and is going to take some punishment. He also had head trauma history. If he becomes unavailable for whatever reason, whatever period of time, we've got a dinged up and (imo) relatively low ceilinged Geremy Davis (believe he also missed time toward the end of last year?), a workmanlike Dwayne Harris, who fills in adequately but inspires no fear in defenses, Myles White (little discussion of him at all), and a bunch of undrafted or street FAs who in camp inspire wows and hope each year but who, for the most part (VC excepted) turn out to be marginal players.
So, this tired resume of our WR situation screams to me that we are, yet again in 2016, very thin at the WR position, if you discount VC's ability to contribute at a high level, which objectively speaking one has to. We're an injury away from being where we were a year ago, Eli and OBJ and little else, and no RR. It's a bit of a stretch to think we'll get reliable production from the TE position--enough to take the double teams off Odell? Does one of the FAs separate himself and make it impossible to keep him off the field? Has any of them, King, Lewis, Powe, Dable et. al shown that?
The epitaph of this season may rest on the answers to the questions whether enough was done at OL and WR, knowing that the carryovers from the 2015 roster carried so many ??.
The difference between having a Victor Cruz who performs like a legitimate starting WR or not changes the complexion of this group dramatically. It is the difference between wanting unproven players to contribute verses counting on them to contribute significantly.