mardi 17 novembre 2015

Giants Receiver Victor Cruz, Gone 13 Months, Will Have Surgery

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Victor Cruz running in September. His calf surgery may signal the end of his Giants career.Bill Kostroun/Associated Press
Victor Cruz was running pass routes on Saturday at the Giants’ practice complex hoping to finally be ready to make his season debut in a game on Nov. 29 against Washington.
Cruz, sidelined for 13 months since he tore a patellar knee tendon last year, appeared to have recovered from that serious injury. On Saturday, he was trying to overcome a bafflingly persistent calf strain that first hobbled him in August.
But running about 75 percent of full speed, Cruz suddenly had another setback, pulling up as his calf muscle gave away again. It did not take long for the Giants doctors to realize that Cruz would need surgery to correct the calf problem, which was diagnosed as a small tear.
Giants management then did something rare: It kept the news from Coach Tom Coughlin, who was preparing his team to play the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
But by Monday, there was no delaying the bad news. While Giants fans have dreamt of having Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr. on the field together, it will not happen this season.

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It is possible it may never happen. A second lengthy rehabilitation of a serious leg injury could mean the end of Cruz’s career with the Giants. He has three years and about $24 million left on a contract he signed in 2013. At the very least, Cruz will most likely have to restructure his contract significantly to remain with the team.
General Manager Jerry Reese said he would not go into specifics about Cruz’s contract.
“That will take care of itself when the time comes,” Reese said.
But Reese added a revealing analysis of what Cruz, who has played only six games since 2013, will face.
“When you’re gone for a couple of years like that, you just can’t jump back in and play,” Reese said. “I think you have to build your way back up and get your feet under you, and get your confidence back and have the quarterback get his confidence back.
“I don’t think it’s an easy road back.”
Cruz’s salary-cap number next season would be $9.9 million. If the team cut him this spring, there would be about $6.1 million in savings.
Cruz, who turned 29 last week, was a luminous star of the Giants’ 2011 Super Bowl-winning season when he had 82 receptions for 1,536 receiving yards and caught nine touchdown passes. In 2013, a knee injury and a concussion cost Cruz two games, and he finished with 73 receptions and 998 receiving yards. Because Beckham had a hamstring injury early last year, he and Cruz were on the field together for only six quarters last season.
Cruz announced his calf surgery Monday in a video that appeared first on the Bleacher Report website and that was provided by Uninterrupted, which produces web content made by players. In his video, Cruz said: “This hurts, you know, mainly because I worked so hard to come back from the patellar tendon surgery.”
Cruz continued: “There are certain things that just happen to your body that you just can’t explain. But I’m excited for the next chapter. And I hope you guys don’t lose faith in me because I haven’t lost faith in myself. So, see you guys next year.”
For the Giants it was just more bad news after a dispiriting, last-second loss to the Patriots. The players, who are off until next week, met with Coughlin Monday morning. “We do need to rest, reflect and regroup,” said Coughlin, who reminded his players that they are still in first place in the N.F.C. East.
“When we come back, it’s down to a six-game season,” he said.
Dwayne Harris, a wide receiver and kick returner, will have to continue to play Cruz’s slot receiver role, and more will certainly be expected of Beckham. Coughlin said Beckham had learned a lesson Sunday when he failed to tuck the football under his arm after a catch in the end zone in the last two minutes that might have clinched a victory. The pass was knocked away — and was later ruled incomplete — just after Beckham caught it.
“He needs to secure the ball properly right away as the second move rather than holding the ball away from your body,” Coughlin said. “He’s a young player; I’m sure it’ll stick with him.”
Coughlin also addressed those who questioned the Giants’ decision to pass the football at the goal line in their final possession instead of running more time off the game clock with running plays.
“Against Brady,” Coughlin said, referring to Tom Brady, “I was trying to score a touchdown. I was not playing for the field goal.”
Interestingly, in the Giants’ season-opening defeat at Dallas, Coughlin was criticized for playing for a field goal and not trying to score a touchdown near the goal line at the end of that game.
EXTRA POINTS
Cornerback Prince Amukamara, who has been sidelined with a pectoral muscle strain, said he expected to play against Washington.
A version of this article appears in print on November 17, 2015, on page B9 of the New York edition with the headline: Giants’ Cruz, Out 13 Months, Is Set for Surgery. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Sub
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